KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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Voters in Kansas will decide whether to reelect their U.S. Representatives this election. The 3rd Congressional District represents most of the Kansas side of the Kansas City area in Washington, D.C.
Democratic Sharice Davids hopes to win for a fourth straight term. In 2018, she unseated Kevin Yoder, a Republican.
Johnson County is the largest county in the district with more than 400,000 registered voters. In 2016, the county picked former President Donald Trump. In 2020, voters in the county chose President Joe Biden.
“Nobody is completely right on either side of party,” said Lisa Greenwald.
She admitted she grew up in a family that placed a lot of emphasis on party politics. These days, she places more focus on issues, which means she doesn’t choose a candidate based on their party.
“For me now, it’s about issues and who I feel is the best candidate who is going to work on those issues for me,” Greenwald explained.
Greg Orman ran for Kansas governor and U.S. senator as an Independent in 2018 and 2014. He voted early Friday and offered his opinion on why the district doesn’t always align with one party.
“Johnson County has a high percentage of very smart, educated voters. I think as a result of that, they tend to look as much as anything at the quality of the candidate as opposed to a partisan label,” Orman said. “As a result of that, you end up moving from Democrat to Republican, I think, largely on the quality of the candidate.”
Dr. Prasanth Reddy is challenging Davids on the Republican side of the 2024 ballot.
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