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August 6th , 2024 Len’s Political Note #661 Sharice Davids Kansas 02
2024 General Election
During the uncertainty about whether Joe Biden would stay in the presidential race or not, some Democratic candidates felt less confident about their own reelection prospects. Sharice Davids was one.
Twenty-one Native Americans have been elected to Congress. Sharice Davids is one of them. In 2018, she and Deb Haaland (now the Secretary of the Interior) were the first Native American women to be elected to the House.
Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people, has overcome hard times. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Her grandfather was a veteran of the US Army as was her mother, who was serving in the US Army in Germany when she gave birth to Sharice.
Sharice Davids was raised in Kansas and went to Leavenworth High School. After that, she took a few courses at Haskell Indian Nations University, a land grant university in Lawrence, Kansas. Then she attended Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.
Sharice Davids route to her degrees, let alone her route to Congress, was not a straight line. After high school, even while she went to school, she worked. She was the assistant manager of a drive-in. She drove for a wine company. She was a barista. She coordinated meetings for a Marriot. She was 27 years old when she completed her BA in 2007. She majored in business administration and thought about how she could work in business. She had other thoughts as well. In 2006, she fought in her first amateur Mixed Martial Arts competition. Her record as an amateur was eventually 5-1.
She was not uncomfortable with her life in Kansas and was grateful to her mother who encouraged her to “just be me.” She came out as gay in high school, dated a girlfriend, and got exactly the support she needed from her single mother.
Returning to Cornell to receive an award from the LGBTQ+ organization there, she explained that admission to Cornell Law School had not been crucial to her sense of self. She had met with the director of a program designed to help undergraduate Native Americans in Kansas City. The advisor’s response to Sharice Davids’ fear that “Cornell’s not going to take me” was “if you don’t apply, then they definitely won’t.” Sharice Davids reflected to those students at Cornell that the decision to apply to Cornell and the courage and confidence that sending the application required was what changed her life.
Sharice Davids was not at all comfortable with her work of a lawyer after she graduated from Cornell. Corporate law was so distasteful to her she was ready to chuck it and to try Mixed Martial Arts as a professional. The opportunity for a fellowship at the White House during Barack Obama’s last two years of office created new opportunities for her.
After her fellowship, Sharice Davids took her business and political experience back to the Midwest – to help Native Americans find a way to create their own businesses. Not every business was a success, but Sharice Davids was. She was visibly working to make the people of Kansas more prosperous.
Kansas 03, in its primarily suburban configuration, was probably ripe for an effective Democrat. First elected in 2010, the incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder had won with margins of 20 points or more in 2010, 2012, and 2014. His margin dropped to 10 points in 2016 and a strong run by a Libertarian candidate was a clue to his drop in popularity.
In 2018, Sharice Davids ran and won by 9 points and won again by 10 points in 2020.
Sharice Davids, former Mixed Martial Arts professional, one of two women who were the first Native American women in Congress and only the second openly gay woman in Congress, was conservative in her approach to her work as a Member of Congress. She exercised the discipline of a professional athlete and the thoroughness of a successful law student.
She became a favorite of the former moderate Democratic DCCC leader Cheri Bustos. Bustos said she would “put [Sharice Davids] at the top of the freshman class in terms of doing things the right way.” Bustos described her as disciplined and not a show off. Sharice Davids has been a member of only one ideological caucus – the New Democratic Coalition – a group that is financially moderate and progressive on social issues. She has become a Vice Chair of that group, Vice Chair for Member Services. She took on an additional leadership role as a regional whip and, when Democrats had the majority, served as Vice Chair of one of the most important committees in Congress in the light of the Biden priorities – Transportation and Infrastructure.
Sharice Davids will become an important figure in the House if Democrats regain control of that legislative body. Help ensure that Sharice Davids remains in Congress. DONATE. See the footnote at the very bottom of the page*
Everything seems close. The presidential race. The House race. The Senate race.
A NEARBY HOUSE RACE – IN NEBRASKA
Tony Vargas can flip Nebraska 02. He is a state senator who came to Omaha from Long Island by way of Teach for America. Tony Vargas and his now wife who came with him have become important figures in Nebraska Democratic politics. While his wife got a law degree locally, became a public defender, and then Executive Director of Nebraska’s Education Rights Council, Tony Vargas became a member of Omaha’s School Board and then became the State Senator from Omaha. Informally, he became the State Senator in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature, for Hispanics, for immigrants, for the meat packers, for those affected by the Covid pandemic.
Tony Vargas ran and lost a close race to the incumbent Republican Don Bacon. Nebraska 02 has changed hands often enough to be a swing district. Don Bacon has tried to be independent of the far right Republicans running Congress, but has not succeeded. He would make abortion illegal, arguing that fetuses are persons and protected by the 14th Amendment. He is skeptical about climate change, has supported Donald Trump’s enormous tax cuts for the wealthy and would do so again if the opportunity arose. He has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and has expressed a willingness to make some cuts in social security. He has been a leader among moderate Democrats, but has often caved.
Tony Vargas is running again against Don Bacon in 2024. DONATE. Help add one more rational, Democratic voice to Congress.
MIDWESTERN SENATE RACES ARE CRUCIAL
A Nebraskan independent is my favorite to flip a Republican seat
Dan Osborn is a union guy. He was president of the Local 50G of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers (BCTGM). In the fall of 2021, they struck in four cities against a company plan to remove a cap on the number of recently hired employees who would remain on the lower tier of a two-tiered pay scale. The union’s goal had been to eliminate to two tiered scale altogether. He and the other union leaders stood up to a threat to take manufacturing overseas, arguing that Americans might not object to sneakers being manufactured overseas, but would resist processed food not made in America.
Dan Osborn is running as an independent and has some proposals (the right to repair, for instance) that would be unusual for a conventional candidate. He began his campaign with no resources, raised $800,000, and on June 30 had $650,000. The incumbent, Deb Fischer has raised $5.7 million and had $3 million on June 30.
Dan Osborn will need help from everyone. From Unions, the grassroots, and Democrats. Fischer’s career has been sufficiently nondescript so that she was behind him in a poll last November by 2 points (40 to 38) when no one knew who he was. July had dueling polls. A poll funded by Fischer showed her leading by 26 points. A poll funded by Dan Osborn found them tied. DONATE TO DAN OSBORN. See Len’s Political Note #614
The US Senate race is the big race in Wisconsin in 2024
Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin, grew up in Madison, raised mostly by her grandparents. She came out as a Lesbian in college and, like Ruben Gallego, is on the leftish side of the Democratic party. She is a particular advocate for the availability of health care and continues to be elected by Wisconsin voters. She has raised $26.4 million and had $10.3 million available on March 31.
Eric Hovde, chairman and CEO of the West Coast bank Sunwest and the owner of other banks as well as a Wisconsin real estate business founded by his grandfather, finally announced that he would oppose her. Shortly afterwards, he made some rookie mistakes. It is not just that his bank was named as a co-defendant in an elder abuse lawsuit, he described nursing home residents as having a tenure of five or six months and as not being competent to vote. Less offensive, but equally inaccurate, he ascribed increases in the national debt to spending, without taking into account huge Republican tax cuts.
July polling began with a Republican funded poll with Tammy Baldwin and Eric Hovde even. Later July polls had Tammy Baldwin leading by 5, 8, and 12 points. On June 30, Tammy Baldwin had $7.3 million in her official pocket. On the same date, Eric Hovde had $5.4 million in his official campaign fund and untold millions in his personal pocket which he may or may not be willing to spend. DONATE TO TAMMY BALDWIN. Keep her in the lead. See Len’s Political Note #570
Another Midwestern Senate race
Michigan
Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin’s family owned Hygrade Meat which included Ball Park Franks. She thought about agriculture when she began education and enrolled in Cornell’s agricultural school. She was in New York City at Columbia sudying international studies at the time of the 9/11 attack. That attack convinced her she should be in public service. She finished her Master’s Degree and joined the CIA. After a career in the CIA and working for the Department of Defense and the White House, she and her husband returned to the “genteman’s farm” that had been retained in the family when they sold the business. They thought about next steps and agreed, Elissa Slotkin would run for Congress, which she did successfully.
Now Elissa Slotkin is running for the seat that Debbie Stabenow is retiring from. She has raised $22 million and on June 30 had $9.6 remaining. The probable Republican nominee, former Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers had come out of retirement in Florida for this contest. He raised $5 million and had $2.5 million on June 30. Michigan is a large, expensive state. Both candidates need more.
Polls in June had Elissa Slotkin leading by 2, 3, and 5 points. A Democratic funded poll in July had her leading by 8 points. There were a lot of undecided voters in all the polls. Help Elissa Slotkin reach more people. DONATE TO ELISSA SLOTKIN. See Len’s Political Note #589
Still another Midwestern Senate Race
Ohio
Sherrod Brown is a Democrat who is not an upper class liberal. He made his mark in the House as an opponent of trade agreements — leading the unsuccessful effort (by a single vote) against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2005. He was not a conservative on cultural issues. One of the few to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act, he also opposed an Ohio constitutional amendment to prohibit same sex marriage.
In the Senate, Sherrod Brown continued to oppose trade agreements. He sought to punish China for currency manipulation and export subsidies, citing reports that China’s cheating in the auto parts business put almost two million American jobs at risk. To keep American jobs, he urged the Department of Defense to require that the uniforms for all members of the armed forces be made in the U.S. He criticized the Department of Agriculture for inadequate inspection of meats that came from China. He sought legislation to reduce electronic waste and to reduce the number of counterfeit electronic items coming from overseas — he thought largely from China. He participated in proposing legislation that would have demanded democracy in Hong Kong. You could almost hear him complain about America’s bad deals with China.
His voice also makes Sherrod Brown a blue collar guy. Former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said he must have been hit in the throat by a hockey puck. One newspaper reported on Sherrod Brown’s visit to a union hall — Oh, that voice,” said Jose Arroyo, a third-generation steelworker, as it reverberated through the union hall. “I love that voice.”
Sherrod Brown says: People keep asking him how he is going to win back the Trump voters. Sherrod Brownanswers. “I don’t think I’ve ever lost them.” He is up for election in 2024 and will need to keep those Trump voters with him if he is going to win. Polls in June and July, including a Republican funded poll, show him leading by 5 or 6 points. On June 30, he had a solid lead in the money race against Bernie Moreno, the wealthy Colombian born son of a senior government official in that country who left during a civil war. Moreno had $4.5 million to Sherrod Brown’s $10.7 million. Keep Sherrod Brown in the lead in the financial race. He can win.
One more bit about Ohio. Three seats are up for election in the Ohio Supreme Court. To get the flavor of the difference between Democrats and Republicans in this 4-3 Republican Court consider the 4-3 decision against a man seeking hospital costs from a restaurant. All four Republican Justices voted in favor of the restaurant. All three Democratic Justices voted in favor of the customer whose throat was damaged by a bone in a piece of chicken the restaurant menu described as boneless. The Republican Justices thought it unreasonable for a customer to assume that the restaurant meant it when it said the chicken was boneless. Donate to the campaigns of the following three Democrats: Justice Michael Donnelly, Justice Melody Stewart, and Judge Lisa Forbes.
WE HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO WIN
Donate to Kamala Harris
As we look toward November, 2024, Help sustain the enthusiasm for Kamala Harris’s campaign. She has transformed the campaign, giving Democrats the confidence that she can raise the necessary resources and bring the fight to Donald Trump. Every donation, large or small, makes a difference. Larger donations mean more money for the campaign. But many in the media count the number of small donations as a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate. Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one. DONATE TO KAMALA HARRIS.
*Sharice Davids was not the first Native American to represent Kansas. Republican Charles Curtis was. A member of the Kaw Nation, he was born in the Kansas Territory before a portion of that territory became the free state of Kansas. He was an advocate for the assimilation of Native Americans in ways that eventually deprived many of their native lands and was partly responsible for the creation of the assimilationist boarding schools we now understand to have been oppressive and even dangerous places for children. In 1892, at age 32, Curtis was elected to the House of Representatives. He remained in the House of Representatives until 1907. He was elected to the US Senate from Kansas in 1907 and remained a Senator, except for a two-year hiatus, until 1929. While a Senator, he was president pro temp, minority whip, majority whip, leader of the Senate Republican Conference, and ultimately Republican majority leader from 1924 to 1929. In 1928, he was the Vice Presidential candidate with Herbert Hoover. Charles Curtis served one term as the Vice President of the United States of America.
