Former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Usha Reddi was elected Saturday to represent Kansas on the National Democratic Committee.
Reddi, the mayor of Manhattan, defeated Yolanda Taylor, who served as secretary and chair of the African American Democratic Caucus of Kansas.
Meanwhile, National Committeeman Chris Reeves of Shawnee was elected to a second four-year term.
He turned back a challenge from former U.S. Attorney Randy Rathbun of Wichita, who had support from outgoing National Committeewoman Teresa Krusor and House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer.
The party said the voting results were not immediately available.
Reddi was elected as the Kansas Democratic Party’s national committeewoman about a month after ending her campaign for the U.S. Senate so she could devote more time to helping Manhattan address the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am really excited,” Reddi said Saturday. “This is a very important position.”
Reddi, who replaces Krusor, said a priority will be securing resources needed to boost party registration and get Democrats out to vote later this year when they will take a shot at winning a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas for the first since the 1930s.
“What I would like to see for Kansas and for the DNC is to make sure we are well represented, that we are getting the resources…to get Democrats out to vote,” she said in an interview on Saturday.
Reddi is an Indian American who immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 8.
Reddi grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and later earned a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology at The Ohio State University in 1988 before coming to Kansas.
She was a stay-at-home mom until 2003, when went back to school to earn a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Kansas State University. She received a master’s degree in educational leadership from K-State in 2011.
She has served on the Manhattan City Commission since 2013.
In the race for national committeeman, Reeves talked about his work in the 2018 governor’s race, most notably his efforts to make independent candidate Greg Orman irrelevant in the field that included Laura Kelly and Kris Kobach.
Reeves said his efforts to win reelection were focused on what he can do to elect Barbara Bollier to the U.S. Senate and Michelle De La Isla to Congress from the 2nd District as well as keep Sharice Davids in Congress in the 3rd District.
“One of the things that was most attractive to the voters that I talked to was: Do we have an actual plan for how we can help elect more federal (officials) and how do keep our federal electeds,” Reeves said.
“I think the ablity to talk about what we can do about those things was significant in my reelection,” he said.
