Politics is like MMA. Ask Sharice Davids.
Davids, whose district includes the Kansas City metropolitan area, is the only Democratic member of Kansas' congressional delegation. The Kansas Republican Party and the National Republican Congressional Committee desperately want to change that.
Shortly after the congresswoman was sworn in for her second term, the NRCC announced Davids was among the 47 House Democrats the GOP campaign arm was targeting as it plots a Republican takeover of the lower chamber for the 2022 midterms. (Earlier this month, the NRCC added 10 additional Democrats to their target list).
With Republicans controlling the Kansas statehouse, redrawing Davids' district to help benefit the Republican challenger she defeated in 2020 is a real possibility. "What's striking is the party's willingness to discuss it so openly," the Kansas City Star reported earlier this month.
This may help inform why Davids might be overly bullish about the prospects of the For the People Act, H.R.1, passing the Senate this year. The sprawling Democratic-backed bill passed the House in March, and the Senate Rules Committee held a markup of the bill on Tuesday. Among the things the legislation will do if enacted: significantly reduce partisan gerrymandering (which Democrats and Republicans alike have taken advantage of).
As it stands now, prospects for its passage appear slim, as there is no Republican support for the bill.
That does not deter Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, who says her Brazilian jiujitsu training keeps her ready for any challenge — or opponent.
THE RECAST: How did you get started with MMA? It seems like a huge transition to go from MMA and cage fighting to the halls of Congress. It's a very interesting journey.
REP. DAVIDS: Well I grew up obsessed with Bruce Lee. I think there's pictures from my seventh or eighth birthday where I was running around, kicking and punching. I tied a little black belt around my outfit because I wanted to be Bruce Lee. When I was like 19, I did karate for a little bit and Capoeira, which is a Brazilian martial art, for a little while. So the whole time that I was getting my associate's degree or my bachelor's degree or going to law school, I was always doing martial arts. And it was actually a big piece of my identity.
I started doing a combative style of tae kwon do and submission grappling, then I also started learning [Brazilian] jiujitsu, which is probably the martial art that I'll do for the rest of my life, now that I'm not doing MMA anymore. I had my first two [professional] fights before I left to go to law school. I graduated one weekend, and then I had my first MMA fight the next weekend and after that.
THE RECAST: Is there anything from your martial arts training that translates to politics?
REP. DAVIDS: There are threads that are very similar to the process of running for office. You are constantly having to learn new stuff. You're constantly getting pushed and tested. Not physically, but sometimes it's painful and you have to be open to hearing criticism. Sometimes that's helpful, like constructive criticism. And all of the work happens before the actual night of the fight or the night of the election. So everything in the lead-up to the night that you find out whether you're going to win or lose. That's what determines the outcome, not the day of.
THE RECAST: Obviously, there are moves and countermoves. So once you know who your opponent is, if they throw a punch, you can then counterpunch or do a counter-submission in the political arena as well?
REP. DAVIDS: I think the corollary there would be that everybody has their strengths and then the things that they need to or can improve on. So I think the most effective thing against any opponent is to always focus on the fundamentals. In MMA, that's like you've got to do your cardio, you got to practice your ground game, your stand-up, your transition. As a representative, you have to make sure you're doing constituent services really well. You have to make sure that you're actually showing up to all the different parts of the district.
I have some pretty specific things that I love to train in jiujitsu: arm bars, triangles. And then here [on Capitol Hill] its transportation and infrastructure — it's like OK, I get to have T&I hearing today. So there are some things where you end up getting a little more focused, but the fundamentals always have to be there.
THE RECAST: So what are some of your weaknesses as a politician?
REP. DAVIDS: When I first started doing interviews, I didn't realize how nervous I would get because it wasn't like talking transportation and infrastructure policy in a group of people who are all infrastructure nerds.
In MMA, I was more of a counter-puncher and so oftentimes I would find myself waiting instead of being more aggressive and in the cage. But yeah, for here, it's probably that sort of thing. I imagine any member of Congress probably finds themselves learning to practice patience a lot more. I got to be part of this amazing freshman class where a ton of us came from "nontraditional backgrounds" for Congress. And I think what ends up happening is, even if logically you know real long-term systemic change is going to take time, it's still a very different thing to experience it. For the People Act was like literally one of the very first bills I voted on. And here we are, two years later or whatever it is, and it's a little further along, it's in the Senate. I'm feeling more optimistic this time around, after passing it out of the House that we'll actually see the Senate pass it.
So I think that's probably just recognizing that we have to have stick-to-itiveness especially for the people who are the nontraditional-path people.
THE RECAST: Obviously it was a big week for the bill. We had hours upon hours of markup in the Senate Rules Committee. Now it seems like the future of the bill is really unclear in the upper chamber because Senator Manchin is sort of dashing hopes of getting this passed. What gives you so much confidence that there is a willingness in the upper chamber to do something with the bill?
REP. DAVIDS: I think that there's a couple of things that make me feel that way. One is the broad support that this bill has with people, regardless of if they voted for me or specifically in the 3rd District. Support for getting big money out of politics, making sure that all eligible voters are able to cast their ballot and have it counted [are popular]. And you've got to remember that I'm from Kansas, the home of the Koch brothers and Kris Kobach [former Kansas secretary of state].
I think that the urgency of trying to address things that literally cut to the heart of our democracy, that is an area that has broad support. It feels like the momentum is there, and I think it's because we have a president now who will sign the bill.
THE RECAST: The biggest item here is obviously getting this bill passed would benefit you and your reelection. Because part of this bill too would do away with the partisan gerrymandering of districts. Republicans in your home district are already openly talking about redrawing your lines. What are the prospects of getting this passed to really in time to help you in your reelection next year?
REP. DAVIDS: It's an interesting framing, I guess. This actually touches on that fundamental concept that I was talking about earlier. By me focusing all my energy on being the best representative I can, on making sure that I'm bringing the biggest issues or areas of concern, advocating for my district when I'm out here in D.C., those are the things that I think have the biggest impact on whether or not I continue to have the privilege of serving the 3rd District.
I certainly think that getting the For the People Act passed is something that people in the 3rd District will be glad to see. I think that people will be glad to see that I supported it from the beginning. I think at the end of the day, if we have nonpartisan, really, truly representative districts, I think that just that benefits all of our communities. If people really have representatives who are listening to them that the people chose and not the other way around ... because that's what the Kansas GOP is talking about.
They're literally out there saying, I feel like they're out there saying, "If you can't beat them, cheat them."