What makes Kansas’s 3rd Congressional District purple?

KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can email Charlie at: [email protected].

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Voters in Kansas will decide whether to re-elect their U.S. representatives in this election. The 3rd Congressional District represents most of the Kansas portion of the Kansas City area in Washington, DC.

Democrat Sharice Davids hopes to win a fourth straight term. In 2018, she unseated Kevin Yoder, a Republican.

Johnson County is the county’s largest county with more than 400,000 registered voters. The district elected former President Donald Trump in 2016. In 2020, voters in the county elected President Joe Biden.

“Nobody is completely right on either side of the party,” Lisa Greenwald said.

Charlie Keegan

She admitted that she grew up in a family that paid great attention to party politics. She’s more focused on issues now, which means she doesn’t choose candidates based on party affiliation.

“For me now it’s about the issues and who I think is the best candidate to work on those issues for me,” Greenwald explained.

Greg Orman ran for governor of Kansas and U.S. senator as an independent in 2018 and 2014. He voted early Friday morning and gave his opinion on why the county doesn’t always support one party.

“Johnson County has a high percentage of very smart and educated voters. I think as a result they tend to focus more on the quality of the candidate rather than their party label,” Orman said. “As a result of that, you end up moving from Democrat to Republican, I think in large part because of the quality of the candidate.”

Dr. Prasanth Reddy is challenging Davids on the 2024 Republican ballot.

Charlie Keegan

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