New Adkins ad featuring JoCo sheriff targeted in congressional race

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids is criticizing Republican challenger Amanda Adkins’ new ad that prominently features Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden, who has come under criticism for an apparent attempt to intervene in local elections.

Earlier this week, the Adkins campaign announced a new ad that opens with Hayden and Adkins conversing in front of a police vehicle as the ad intones, “Kansas needs courage to stand up to Joe Biden.” The ad does not mention Hayden by name.

Davids’ campaign says Adkins’ “promotion of Sheriff Hayden’s baseless, taxpayer-funded election investigation” demonstrates that the Republican challenger “is too extreme for the Kansas Third.”

Adkins ad

The Davids campaign also used the ad in a fundraising email.

“Amanda Adkins has repeatedly avoided answering whether or not she would’ve voted to certify the results of the free and fair 2020 election,” the email said.

“Now, she just released a new ad featuring Calvin Hayden, the Johnson County sheriff who is spending taxpayer dollars to investigate bogus voter fraud allegations.”

Adkins responded by suggesting that it was Davids who was out of touch with the district but does not address Hayden or the controversy surrounding him.

“Johnson County remains one of the safest counties in the nation because we value the men and women in uniform who protect individuals, families, and businesses,” Adkins said in a statement.

“In the same way Sharice Davids is out of touch with our community by voting for the failed policies of Joe Biden, she is out of touch attacking our law enforcement officers,” Adkins said.

Two years ago, Hayden endorsed Adkins when she first ran for Congress against Davids.

“I’ve known Amanda Adkins for many years, and I know her support for law enforcement is genuine and steadfast,” Hayden said in a 2020 statement.

“Now more than ever, we need leaders who aren’t afraid to support the brave men and women who protect us. Amanda understands what it takes to keep our communities safe, and she’ll have the backs of our police officers.”

During that 2020 campaign, Adkins said she was “honored” to have Hayden’s support and that she would work closely with law enforcement to make sure they have the resources they need.

“Nothing is more important to me than keeping our district a safe place to live and work,” Adkin said when receiving Hayden’s support in 2020.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also blasted the new ad this week.

“Instead of joining people on both sides of the aisle in rebuking Sheriff Hayden’s baseless, taxpayer-funded investigation, Amanda Adkins is putting his radical views front and center of her campaign,” spokeswoman Johanna Warshaw said in a statement.

“With this ad, Adkins is sending a clear message to voters that she stands with extreme MAGA Republicans, not Kansas,” she said.

The sheriff declined to address criticism of the ad through a spokeswoman.

The new Adkins ad came out right at about the same time when it was reported that it appeared Hayden was trying to interfere with elections run by Johnson County election officials.

KCUR reported that Hayden questioned county election officials about why ballot drop boxes were available at public libraries in the 2020 election and wanted to know whether drop boxes would be eliminated in future elections.

Citing a letter written by Johnson County’s chief legal counsel, KCUR reported that Hayden met with local election officials on July 5 and asked for sheriff’s deputies be present at the Johnson County Election Office when ballots were counted in the future.

The sheriff also offered to have his staff drive in unmarked vehicles to pick up ballots from ballot drop boxes.

Hayden’s office told KCUR that the sheriff’s office had no intention of trying to direct elections and that it was only making suggestions for security.

Hayden recently told the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association at a meeting in Las Vegas that he’s investigating the county’s election results to determine whether there was fraud.

The association believes the sheriff’s law enforcement authority supersedes any elected official or employee from any level of government within the county.

Hayden has said he is investigating claims of voter fraud without providing specific details or evidence other than to say he’s received more than 200 tips alleging fraud in local elections.

“The Sheriff’s Office is committed to upholding the integrity of all local elections to ensure they are open and fair,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement this week.

“Any organization that has turned this investigation into a divisive issue or tried to make their own conclusions is working against the public’s best interest,” the office said.

“It is the Sheriff’s Office’s statutory obligation to investigate any criminal claim that comes to our office and submit our findings to the District Attorney’s Office.

“To not follow through with an investigation would be a dereliction of duty.”

Davids’ reelection is now considered a tossup after the 3rd District was redrawn by the Legislature to add more Republican-leaning rural areas.

Cook Political Report ranks it as a “tossup,” but  RealClear politics now considers the race as “leans Republican.”

Davids has taken on more of an aggressor role in this campaign as she portrays Adkins as outside the political mainstream.

National Democrats recently criticized Adkins for aligning with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 Republican in the House who recently came to Johnson County to campaign for Adkins.

They criticized Stefanik for being an unabashed supporter of former President Donald Trump.

There’s been speculation that Stefanik might be Trump’s running mate if he decides to make a comeback in 2024.

Republicans responded saying that Davids votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden 100% of the time.