Almost two months after losing a bid for Congress, Republican Amanda Adkins continues raising money, stirring questions about whether she’s going to run again in 2022.
Adkins on Monday sent an email that not only raises money for two ongoing U.S. Senate races in Georgia, but for her 3rd District campaign as well.
The email also refers to “our finance team,” although it was unclear just who that included and how it might relate to a 2022 campaign.
“I am sure you’ve kept up to date about the all-out fight to keep the Senate and elect David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Georgia,” Adkins’ email said.
“But with Joe Biden in the White House and Nancy Pelosi keeping the gavel as speaker of the House, preventing Chuck Schumer and Kamala Harris from taking the reins of the Senate is our last line of defense against a slide into downright socialism,” she wrote.
“Court packing. The ‘Green New Deal’. Higher taxes. All are 100% assured if Republicans lose control of the Senate,” the email said.
The email gives donors the opportunity to split their contributions among among Georgia Republicans David Perdue, Kelly Loeffler and her congressional campaign.
The email also gives donors the chance to contribute to a presidential recount, which was already completed by machine and by hand in Georgia.
Adkins could not be reached for comment Monday.
There’s been a lot of speculation that Adkins might run again for Congress after losing to first-term Democratic Congresswoman Sharice Davids last November.
Multiple Republican sources said Monday that Adkins has talked openly about running again, thinking she has a better chance in a year when President Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot, a pandemic doesn’t limit campaigning and the district is redrawn by a Republican-led Legislature.
Adkins lost to Davids by about 10 percentage points, which was about the same margin former Congressman Kevin Yoder lost by two years earlier.
The questions facing Adkins would be what does a new 3rd District look like and would Trump still be as toxic in the Kansas City suburbs.
Republican political consultant Travis Smith, a top adviser to Yoder, said the climate for Republicans in the 3rd District stands to improve.
“Most congressional districts shifted to the right in November, but KS-03 did not,” he said in a text.
“If Biden-Harris and a potentially Democratic controlled Senate and House further move the country to the left, there will be a backlash of epic proportions in the midterms, this time including KS-03,” he wrote.
Barry Grissom, a key player in the Johnson County Democratic Party who ran for the U.S. Senate, said the only way Adkins “stands a snowball’s chance in Hades” is if the district is redrawn in a way that would water down Davids’ support.
Grissom said he believes that the congresswoman can build on her support regardless of how the district might be reconfigured. He predicted she would remain in Congress.
He questioned the fundraising strategy of using a race in another state to raise money.
“If what you have to say is so persuasive or can be persuasive to the voters, do you really have to piggyback on somebody else in another race?” he said.
Adkins finished her campaign with about $43,000 in the bank after spending about $2.1 million in her campaign against Davids, according to her most recent report filed Dec. 3.
Davids finished her campaign with about $536,000 on hand after spending about $5.2 million, according to the Dec. 1 report.
Davids, meanwhile, has been raising money off the prospect the 3rd District is at risk.
“After a hard-fought election this year, I am more committed than ever to keep fighting for Kansas families when I head back to Congress in 2021,” the congresswoman’s email said.
“But Republicans have made it their mission to undo the good work we’re doing and are pledging to rig the redistricting process to kick us out.”
