A Republican political newcomer announced Monday she will challenge Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, one of the party’s more conservative freshman members, for a Kansas seat.
Sara Hart Weir, a former president and CEO of the National Down syndrome Society, said Ms. Davids has become a “rubber stamp” for her party’s liberal agenda and slammed the congresswoman’s support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Ms. Weir called herself a consensus builder who can break partisan gridlock.
“Washington needs to change the way it does business,” she said in announcing her run.
Ms. Davids captured a Republican-held district last year and is one of the main targets Democrats want to defend in 2020. The Cook Political Report has the odds of reelection in her favor.
She has broken with her party on several occasions and provoked an angry reaction from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff during the debate last month over the border crisis spending bill.
When Ms. Davids voted for a bipartisan version of the bill, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s aide accused Ms. Davids of enabling a “racist system.”
The House Democratic Caucus took to Twitter to defend Ms. Davids, in a now-deleted post.
“Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color? Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice. She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue,” the caucus said.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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