Today, Representative Sharice Davids released the following statement in response to multiple calls from Kansas Republican officials to begin an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting process — a move pushed by Donald Trump to rig the 2026 election in his favor.
“Under pressure from Donald Trump, Kansas state politicians are pushing an unprecedented mid-decade redraw to make the already gerrymandered maps even more extreme — breaking their promises and putting their own political power ahead of Kansans,” said Davids. “Their goal is clear: stack the deck in their favor because they know their policies aren’t popular, including their disastrous budget that rips 79,000 Kanans off their health care just to give billionaires massive tax breaks. Voters, not politicians, should choose their representatives. This potential gerrymander is clearly political, threatens our democracy, and deepens division in our country.”
Background
Recent reporting has highlighted “the only way to ensure Sharice Davids loses, or any Democrat, is to break Johnson County up.” During the 2022 gerrymander, however, state leaders — including Senate President Ty Masterson — promised to keep the county whole. Now, to appease Donald Trump and play politics, those same leaders could go back on their word.
Davids has faced this fight before. Former-Senate Majority Leader Susan Wagle said at the time, “I guarantee you we can draw four Republican congressional maps.” But after the 2022 gerrymander, which was designed to make Kansas’ Third District as Republican-friendly as possible, Davids won the election by 12 percent and was re-elected last year by double digits. These outcomes underscore that even with direct attacks against Davids, voters will not be silenced or overridden by political manipulation.
Davids ran to serve the people of Kansas and remains focused on representing them in whatever capacity best allows her to do so. If the unprecedented mid-decade redistricting moves forward, all options remain on the table to ensure Kansans’ voices are heard.