Sharice Davids Bio
Sharice Lynnette Davids (born May 22, 1980) is an American politician, attorney, and former mixed martial artist who has served as the U.S. representative for Kansas’s 3rd congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that includes most of the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Overland Park, Prairie Village, and Olathe. She is the first openly LGBT Native American elected to the United States Congress and one of the first two Native American women, alongside Deb Haaland, to serve in the chamber.
Before entering politics, Davids built a career in law, community economic development, and professional athletics. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School, then competed as a professional mixed martial artist in the early 2010s. She later transitioned to public service through a White House fellowship and a run for Congress that reshaped Kansas politics.
Early Life and Background
Sharice Davids was born on May 22, 1980, in Frankfurt, West Germany, where her mother was stationed with the U.S. Army. She is a member of the Ho-Chunk people and an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Her maternal grandfather, Fredrick J. Davids, was a United States Army veteran born into the Mohican Nation Stockbridge-Munsee Band in Oneida, Wisconsin.
Davids was raised primarily by her single mother, Crystal Herriage, who served in the U.S. Army. The family eventually settled in Kansas, where Davids attended Leavenworth High School. She went on to study at Haskell Indian Nations University, Johnson County Community College, the University of Kansas, and the University of Missouri–Kansas City, graduating from the latter with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2007. She later earned her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 2010.
Path to U.S. Politics
After law school, Davids began her legal career at SNR Denton in 2010. She then shifted toward public service by directing community and economic development for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In 2016, she was selected as a White House fellow in the Department of Transportation, working during the final months of the Obama administration and the transition to the Trump administration.
Beyond law and policy, Davids competed as a mixed martial artist, beginning as an amateur in 2006 and turning professional in 2013 with a 1–1 record. She tried out for The Ultimate Fighter but did not make the show, which prompted her to step away from competition and focus on working with Native American communities on economic development. These experiences in law, federal service, and community organizing ultimately set the stage for her 2018 congressional campaign.
Sharice Davids Career
Early Career (2010–2016)
Davids launched her professional life as an attorney at SNR Denton in 2010, the same year she earned her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School. Her early legal work gave her exposure to corporate and public-interest matters, but she soon sought opportunities that combined her legal training with direct community impact.
She took on the role of directing community and economic development for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where she worked on initiatives to strengthen local economies in one of the most underserved areas of the country. This period sharpened her focus on federal policy, infrastructure, and economic opportunity, themes that would later define her congressional agenda.
2018 Congressional Breakthrough (2018–2019)
In 2018, Davids ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Kansas’s 3rd congressional district, which had been held by Republican Kevin Yoder. In the Democratic primary, she defeated Brent Welder, who had been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, 37% to 34%, emerging as the party’s nominee in a competitive race.
Davids went on to defeat Yoder in the November 8 general election, 53.6% to 43.9%, becoming the first Democrat to represent a Kansas congressional district in a decade. When she was sworn in on January 3, 2019, she became the first Democrat to represent Kansas in the House since Dennis Moore left office in 2011. Her victory made her one of the first two Native American women, alongside Deb Haaland, to serve in Congress.
Current Tenure in the U.S. House (2019–Present)
Since taking office, Davids has represented a district covering much of the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. On December 18, 2019, she voted to impeach President Donald Trump and was the only member of the Kansas delegation to do so. In March 2020, she quarantined after possible exposure to coronavirus, having already moved much of her office operations online.
She was named a vice-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention and, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, voted with President Joe Biden’s stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, earning a Biden Plus/Minus score of +10. She voted for the America COMPETES Act of 2022 and added an amendment to include small and medium-sized manufacturers in a $500 million pilot program for personal protective equipment and medical supplies.
Reelection Campaigns and Milestones
Davids was unopposed in the 2020 Democratic primary and defeated Republican Amanda Adkins with 53.6% of the vote to Adkins’s 43.6%. In 2022, she won a newly redrawn, slightly more Republican-leaning district by defeating Adkins again, 54.9% to 42.8%, with Libertarian Steve Hohe receiving 2.3%. In 2024, she secured a fourth term by defeating Republican Prasanth Reddy, 53.4% to 42.6%.
Sharice Davids Career Wins
Sharice Davids has won four consecutive U.S. House elections in Kansas’s 3rd congressional district, beginning with her historic 2018 victory over incumbent Kevin Yoder. Each win has built on the last, and her 2024 victory over Prasanth Reddy marked her fourth consecutive term in office.
U.S. House Highlights
Davids’s first congressional win, in 2018, ended a decade-long absence of Democratic representation from Kansas in the House. She has since held the seat against two strong Republican challengers, Amanda Adkins in 2020 and 2022, and Prasanth Reddy in 2024. Her 2022 win was particularly notable because redistricting had moved the district rightward, yet she improved her margin by about 2.1%.
Other Recognition and Achievements
In 2019, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Cheri Bustos rated Davids among the top-performing freshmen for her work in Congress. In June 2019, Queerty named her to its Pride50 list of trailblazing advocates for LGBTQ equality, and in 2021, Fast Company included her in its Queer 50 list.
Sharice Davids Family
Family Background and Heritage
Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk people and an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Her maternal grandfather, Fredrick J. Davids, was a U.S. Army veteran and a member of the Mohican Nation Stockbridge-Munsee Band from Oneida, Wisconsin. She was raised by her single mother, Crystal Herriage, who served in the U.S. Army and whose military career took the family from Frankfurt, West Germany, where Sharice was born, to Kansas.
Personal Life
Davids resides in Roeland Park, Kansas. She is openly lesbian and made history as the first openly LGBT Native American elected to the United States Congress. Public records about a spouse or children are not clearly established in available sources.