Obama Alumna Aims to be First Native American Woman in Congress

Attorney Sharice Davids announced her candidacy Thursday for the 3rd Congressional District seat in Kansas. The Democrat is hoping to unseat Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-KS). Davids was most recently a White House Fellow during theObama administration, where she was placed in the Department of Transportation. The 37-year-old is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and spent time working as a legal counsel on a reservation in South Dakota before her stint at the White House. If elected, she could become the first Native American woman in Congress. “Until it got pointed out to me it wasn’t necessarily part of my thinking, but the gravity of it really hit me recently,” Davids said. “It’s amazing how long we’ve been in a country, but we’re still having firsts.” She could potentially share the distinction with Democrat Deb Haaland, a Native American woman who is running for the seat being vacated by CHC Chair Congresswoman Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM), who is running for governor. Davids would also be the first openly gay representative from Kansas. After graduating from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2007, she went on to complete law school at Harvard in 2010. She has held positions at SNR Denton, Ceiba Legal, and briefly owned a coffee company. She’ll face Chris Haulmark, Reggie Marselus, Mike McCamon, Tom Niermann, Jay Sidie, and Brent Welder in the August 7th primary.More here.