Representative Sharice Davids Announces Participation in Two Debates, Consistent with Previous Campaign Cycle

Today, Sharice for Congress announced that Representative Sharice Davids has accepted invitations for two general election debates and is eager to share her work on important issues like lowering costs, growing our economy, and protecting Kansans’ rights.

“Representative Davids looks forward to participating in the debates this fall and making clear the choice voters have this November between Rep. Davids’ record of working across the aisle to lower costs and protect Kansans’ rights, and Amanda Adkins’ extreme agenda aimed at banning abortion and slashing Social Security,” said Ellie Turner, spokesperson for Sharice for Congress. 

Davids’ campaign accepted invitations for the Shawnee Mission Post debate on Friday, October 21, co-hosted and broadcast by KCUR and Kansas City Public Television, and the 4 Star Politics debate on Tuesday, October 25, broadcast by FOX4 Kansas City.

New Ad Slams Adkins’ Extreme Abortion Positions
On Saturday, NBC News reported on a new ad in the Kansas Third Congressional race highlighting longtime Brownback advisor Amanda Adkins’ support for extreme abortion policies, from her time as chair of the Kansas Republican Party pushing for a “Human Life Amendment” that would ban abortions without exceptions for rape or incest, to her recent support for a controversial budget plan that “contains a proposed federal abortion ban” that would send doctors to prison.

Read more from NBC News:

“Davids’ six-figure ad, shared in advance with NBC News, targets Adkins for saying earlier this year that she was “100%” in favor of the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would have removed language enshrining abortion rights there. 

That amendment failed in August with nearly 60% of voters casting ballots against it — a vote that has influenced the conversation around abortion rights nationally in the weeks since.

The ad, which airs on broadcast, cable and satellite TV, also highlights Adkins’ support for the proposed Republican Study Committee’s fiscal year 2023 budget. Adkins framed her support for the plan around its budget-reduction measures, but the proposal also contains a proposed federal abortion ban that would begin when a fetal heartbeat is first detected — generally between five and seven weeks.

The ad links Adkins’ being endorsed by the anti-abortion rights group Kansans for Life with comments made by a National Right to Life official — the group’s parent organization — in which he said a 10-year-old should carry a pregnancy to term.

[…]”

Read the full article here.

Today, longtime Brownback advisor Amanda Adkins called herself a “policy-driven” candidate. Adkins’ policy ideas include a controversial budget plan that would cut Medicare and Social Security, slash early childhood education, ban abortion without exceptions, and send doctors to prison. 

After saying she would “absolutely” support the 122-page plan released by Congressional Republicans earlier this year, Adkins put it on her website, calling it a “very solid” document. Included in it are bills to:

• Slash trillions from Medicare
• Raise the retirement age for Social Security to 69
• Ban abortion without exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother
• Halt government efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs
• End the Head Start program for low-income preschoolers
• Cut federal spending on crop insurance
• Roll back climate change initiatives and gun safety laws
• And much, much more

“Kansans should know that when Amanda Adkins says she is policy driven, those policies include cutting Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, and banning abortion without exception. Don’t take my word for it—just look at the plan she said she ‘absolutely’ supports,” said Ellie Turner, spokesperson for Sharice for Congress.

This week, longtime Brownback advisor Amanda Adkins doubled down on her endorsement of a controversial budget plan that would cut Medicare and Social Security, slash early childhood education, ban abortion without exceptions, and send doctors to prison—even as other Republican candidates shy away from its “political vulnerabilities.”

• In an email to supporters, Adkins again confirmed her support for the drastic cuts that would make millions of Kansas seniors wait longer for their hard earned benefits and end Medicare as we know it, calling it “a very solid budget.”
   
• In a radio interview, Adkins reiterated that she wants to end early childhood programs like Head Start, which thousands of families in Kansas rely on for affordable child care—continuing her record from Sam Brownback’s administration, where she oversaw a 75% cut in early education funding.
   
• But when asked why Adkins supports this platform, which includes a total ban on abortion without exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the mother—she had nothing to say for herself.

Nothing new here…the Kansas Reflector reported how Adkins’ support of this plan is similar to her support of the “philosophy of governing advanced in Kansas when Sam Brownback was governor from 2011 to 2018.” Adkins stood with Brownback for decades as he “tanked” Kansas’ budget, schools and social services to pay for corporate tax giveaways.

“Amanda Adkins’ vision for Kansas is a nightmare for seniors, women, and families. She wants to cut your Social Security to pay for her corporate tax giveaways—but Kansas has been through this Adkins-Brownback agenda before, and we are not doing it again,” said Ellie Turner, spokesperson for Sharice for Congress.

Kansas Reflector: ‘Republican congressional candidate Amanda Adkins embraced a U.S. House GOP group’s manifesto for balancing the federal budget that would slash trillions from Medicare, raise the full retirement age for Social Security and end Head Start for low-income preschoolers.’

Today, the Kansas Reflector released a shocking report detailing longtime Brownback advisor Amanda Adkins’ ‘absolute’ support of the Republican Study Committee’s controversial budget plan. The proposal—which Adkins “embraced”— attacks Medicare and Social Security, slashes education, bans abortion and criminalizes doctors for delivering reproductive care, to name a few. 

The Kansas Reflector noted how Adkins’ support of the plan is similar to her support of the “philosophy of governing advanced in Kansas when Sam Brownback was governor from 2011 to 2018.” Adkins stood with Brownback while he “tanked” Kansas’ budget, schools and social services to pay for corporate tax giveaways.

Adkins’ support of the manifesto shows how out-of-touch she is with the Kansas Third District. Here’s what’s in it: 

• Slash trillions from Medicare
• Raise the retirement age for Social Security to 69
• Ban abortion at five to seven weeks of gestation
• Halt government efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs
• End the Head Start program for low-income preschoolers
• Cut federal spending on crop insurance
• Roll back climate change initiatives and gun safety laws
• And much, much more

Read more from the Kansas Reflector here or below:

“Republican congressional candidate Amanda Adkins embraced a U.S. House GOP group’s manifesto for balancing the federal budget that would slash trillions from Medicare, raise the full retirement age for Social Security and end Head Start for low-income preschoolers.

Other provisions of the plan would halt government efforts to lower prescription drug prices, make sweeping reductions in federal regulations and forbid intrusion into businesses and schools of the type adopted in the COVID-19 pandemic. The package would hit agriculture by cutting federal spending on crop insurance, block new enrollment in the conservation reserve program and dissolve a longstanding urban-rural voting coalition by separating nutrition programs from agriculture programs in farm bills.

Another cut: The bipartisan international education and food program named for U.S. Sens. Bob Dole and George McGovern to reduce hunger and improve literacy, especially for girls.

[…]

The “Save America” portfolio would limit abortion access, roll back climate change initiatives, lower barriers to carrying concealed guns, crack down on transgender rights and eliminate an agency protecting rights of workers.

[…]

‘This is the Adkins-Brownback agenda gone national,’ Turner [spokesperson for Davids’ campaign] said. ‘She wants to gut your hard-earned Medicare and Social Security benefits, enact a federal abortion ban without exceptions and revive corporate tax giveaways like those that left Kansas families, schools and infrastructure in the ditch.’

[…]

… The Republican plan featured 23 anti-abortion policies, including a federal ban on abortion at five to seven weeks of gestation… Davids, in response to introduction Tuesday of a national 15-week abortion ban bill by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, said the South Carolina Republican affirmed ‘extreme politicians have been looking for an opportunity to strip away our right to choose through a total ban on abortion, and without Roe, they have one.’

‘We should believe people when they show us who they are,’ Davids said. ‘Amanda Adkins has shown time and again that she will not stand up against these extreme policies — in fact, the bans she has supported go even further.’”

Rep. Sharice Davids released the following statement after U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a national abortion ban bill:

“This is not hyperbole or hypothetical anymore. Extreme politicians have been looking for an opportunity to strip away our right to choose through a total ban on abortion, and without Roe, they have one.

We should believe people when they show us who they are. Amanda Adkins has shown time and again that she will not stand up against these extreme policies—in fact, the bans she has supported go even further. She’s dangerously out of step with the Kansas Third and now, the threat to our rights is more real than ever.”

Today, the Kansas City Star detailed Amanda Adkins’ close ties to disgraced former governor Sam Brownback—and how that serves as a “weight around the ankles” of her campaign in a district where just 25% of voters view Brownback favorably.

The Star reported that Adkins’ long history with Brownback—including working for him in the U.S. Senate, managing his campaign, championing his disastrous governorship as Chair of the Kansas Republican Party, and being appointed to his Children’s Cabinet—could spell trouble in a state where “Brownback remains extremely unpopular.”

Adkins’ stood by Brownback while his tax experiment “tanked” Kansas’ economy, calling him an “incredible governor.” The Star reports how the Adkins-Brownback agenda had “a more personal impact than national policies” and the former Governor “isn’t exactly disappearing from public view” on issues like abortion, complicating Adkins’ attempts to mask her extreme anti-choice record.

Read more from the Kansas City Star here or below: 

“Since Brownback launched his tax experiment in 2012 and the experiment went south — draining funding needed for schools, infrastructure and local services — his name has served as a weight around the ankles of Republicans… 

[…]

Still, his reputation lingers. Democratic polling in June found that Brownback remains extremely unpopular, with only 25% of voters in the 3rd Congressional District viewing him favorably. His unfavorable numbers were much lower than former President Donald Trump, who 43% of voters saw favorably.

[…]

‘For almost two decades, Amanda Adkins shaped, supported, and celebrated Sam Brownback’s disastrous policies, working at his side even when it meant Kansas kids suffered,’ said Ellie Turner, Davids’ spokeswoman. ‘A record like that is not something you can brush off, especially when Kansans are still recovering from the harm Brownback and his allies did to our state.’

[…]

Adkins served as a campaign manager for Brownback’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign and was the chairwoman of the Kansas Republican Party when Brownback was elected governor. He appointed her to the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund. 

[…]

Under the tax cuts implemented from Brownback, the state faced massive funding shortfalls, making it difficult to fund the state programs voters feel in their everyday lives. Eventually, the Republican-controlled legislature stepped in to eliminate Brownback’s tax cuts, using a supermajority to override his veto. Brownback has insisted that his program just needed more time to work. Because Brownback’s policies affected the state budget, they may have had a more personal impact than national policies, which often take years to be felt by the average voter. 

[…]

But Brownback isn’t exactly disappearing from public view. In a recent speech, Brownback compared voters rejecting an amendment to the Kansas constitution that would have eliminated the right to abortion to the first battle of the Civil War, reigniting an issue that Republicans like Schmidt and Adkins have preferred to leave untouched.” 

This morning, Representative Sharice Davids joined KCUR’s Kansas City Today podcast to discuss key issues for her re-election campaign. Rep. Davids is focused on lowering costs and protecting reproductive rights for folks across the Kansas Third District.

Rep. Davids detailed her recent work to fix the supply chain, bring manufacturing back home, and cap health care expenses as part of her plan to fight inflation and bring down costs. Last month, Rep. Davids supported legislation to cap insulin at $35 per month for Medicare, and give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. 

Meanwhile, Amanda Adkins cited irresponsible budget plans that call for large cuts to Social Security and Medicare as a part of her vision to reduce the nation’s deficit that she would “absolutely support.”

Listen to KCUR’s Kansas City Today here or key quotes below: 

• “I’ve been looking at ways to enact policies and push for legislation … to fix our supply chains so that we’re making more here, domestically… [In Congress] I’ve been a big proponent of making sure we’re being as fiscally responsible as we can be.”
   
• “I mentioned the capping of prescription drug costs, including insulin, but we’re also going to see Medicare who’s going to be able to negotiate prescription drug prices, which will not only save folks who are on Medicare money, but it also saves the overall taxpayer money.”
   
• “I’ve been willing to work with anyone—Republican or Democrat—if the outcome is something that is going to be good for Kansas.”
   
• “The choice is very clear: I have fought to protect our rights, and have fought to make sure that people have the ability to make their own decisions with their doctor, and not have a politician making their decisions. My opponent, who has not only supported the recent amendment, but also, was Chair of the [Kansas] Republican Party when they were pushing for an extreme ban without exception for rape or incest.”
   
• “I’ve been going out and meeting with folks in Miami County, Anderson County, and Franklin County… It’s going to require me to learn a lot about new sectors, like agriculture, but it also means that I get the chance to bring resources back to the Kansas Third—whether that’s on infrastructure, small business or the Ag Committee, I’m going to continue to do that.” 

OTTAWA, KS – Yesterday, Representative Sharice Davids met with Kansans in Franklin County to discuss her recent work to lower health care costs. Davids highlighted her record of making health care more affordable, including standing up to Big Pharma, giving Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug costs, and helping end surprise medical billing. 

“It was great to come to Franklin County and connect with folks here who are seeing lower costs thanks to important health care provisions I fought for,” said Davids. “Too many Kansans are affected by skyrocketing prescription drugs and medical expenses. Whether it’s capping insulin at $35 a month for Medicare, lowering premiums, or ending surprise medical billing, I’m focused on lowering costs for Kansans—and my record shows that I work with anyone, regardless of party, to get it done.” 

Here’s what Rep. Davids has accomplished to lower health care costs for Kansans: 

• Capped the cost of prescriptions for seniors, including by passing Medicare’s first-ever out-of-pocket maximum on prescription drugs, making expensive vaccines like shingles free, and capping co-pays for insulin at $35 a month. 
   
• Stood up to Big Pharma by finally allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices on drugs and creating an inflation rebate if companies increase drug prices faster than inflation.
   
• Helped draft and pass a bipartisan law ending surprise medical billing and protecting consumers from these unexpected and often financially devastating expenses.
   
• Lowered premiums for Kansas families who buy their own insurance by an average of $980 each year.

Once again, Amanda Adkins is making headlines for attempting to mask her long-standing position as an anti-abortion extremist. Her sudden cover up comes after the Kansas Third District overwhelmingly defeated the anti-abortion constitutional amendment — which she “100 percent” voted for. 

As Adkins said herself, she is a “pro-life candidate,” who has a record of “supporting life from conception until natural death,” and even backed a plan that would ban abortion with no exception for rape or incest during her time as Chair of the Kansas Republican Party. While Adkins is busy hiding her anti-abortion history, Rep. Sharice Davids remains the only pro-choice candidate for the Kansas Third. 

Rep. Davids told Fox 4 KC: “Now more than ever, people are going to want to know where each of us is at . . . I think given every chance, Amanda Adkins has demonstrated that she is not in step with not just the Third District, but now even Kansas.” 

Amanda Adkins is trying to hide her anti-abortion record, but she can’t escape her past. On top of CNN, Salon, and the Kansas Reflector, she keeps getting called out:  

AP: GOP candidates mask rigid abortion stances after Roe ruling

“In Kansas, Republican Amanda Adkins — who is running against two-term Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids — wrote in a Kansas City Star op-ed published last week, ‘I don’t support a federal ban on abortion.’

The mention came after months of silence by Adkins after the May leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion signaling Roe was in jeopardy. A decade earlier as Kansas’ Republican chair, Adkins had supported a strict abortion ban in the party’s platform.

Adkins’ Star piece also followed close on the heels of Kansas voters’ decisive rejection of a constitutional amendment that would have nullified a state Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to an abortion. Notably, the referendum failed in Johnson County — the teeming, suburban heart of Davids’ district — by more than 2-to-1. Adkins publicly supported the amendment.

Nunn’s and Adkins’ efforts to deemphasize their previous conservative stances on abortion are conspicuous.”

Fox 4: Abortion and its impact on the Kansas 3rd Congressional District race

“How Adkins and Democratic Congresswoman Sharice Davids view abortion could also play a role in November though.

Davids said she’s been clear since the start that she’s supports abortion rights. She argued Adkins hasn’t been as clear on her stance.

‘I definitely think that she has not been as clear lately as she was even prior to the Constitutional Amendment vote,’ Davids told FOX4 Thursday. ‘She was very clearly in favor of the Constitutional Amendment that would have allowed for a total ban in our state.

Kansans soundly defeated the amendment though, which kept an abortion a constitutional right.”