By ANDREA TUDHOPE

Incumbent Republican Congressman Kevin Yoder and his challenger, Democrat Sharice Davids, faced off in a debate on Tuesday afternoon, just a week ahead of the midterm election. 

“I’ve done three of them by myself,” he said.

In response, Davids told the media after the debate it was “political gamesmanship,” and called out Yoder’s delay in agreeing to Tuesday’s debate.

Yoder arrived with a fresh endorsement from President Donald Trump Tuesday. 

The questions, asked by journalists from the Kansas City Star, KCPT and Fox 4 News, touched on immigration, healthcare, Trump and other topics. 

When asked which government program or service was “performing so poorly it should be eliminated,” Yoder named the Environmental Protection Agency.

“I think one of the most destructive agencies out there is the EPA,” he said. “What the EPA has attempted to do in their efforts to attack Americans and drive up their cost of doing business hurts the economy and is what caused part of the slow recession.”

Davids said she was “floored” by that.

“When I think about where we should be spending less money, certainly it’s not in protecting our environment,” she said. “But I do think there are some regulatory inefficiencies we need to be addressing.”

After the debate, Yoder said he didn’t want to eliminate the EPA, but he told KCUR the EPA needs a “better balancing act.” He said EPA regulations are increasing energy costs and hurting working-class families, pointing specifically to the Clean Power Plan, which the administration wants to toss out.

Davids cited the recently released U.N. Climate Report to argue there’s an “urgent” need to take action on climate change. 

Immigration has been a hot-button issue for both candidates, and Yoder seemed to take every opportunity he had to draw attention to a comment Davids made, on the podcast Millenial Politics, in support of abolishing ICE.

Asked whether Congress should move to end birthright citizenship, as Trump told Axios he hopes to do, Yoder skirted the question and answered that the root cause is a “failure to secure our borders.”

“My opponent, who’s running on a platform of open borders and abolishing ICE, defunding our immigration enforcement, would leave our borders open,” he said.

Davids later walked back her comments on ICE, and reiterated that she supports “bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform,” before saying Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship by executive order is unconstitutional, and an example of why Congress needs to be a check on the executive branch.

“Representative Yoder has failed at that,” Davids said.

Protections for LGBTQ individuals also came up in the debate, after the New York Times reported last week that the Trump administration may redefine gender. 

Davids, who would become the first openly gay person to represent Kansas in Congress if elected, said LGBTQ persons should be a protected class.

“What we’ve seen this past year from this current administration, back-tracking on some of the protections for LGBT folks, is very troubling,” she said.

Yoder said he agreed, and decried discrimination against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but he didn’t endorse specific legislation that would realize those protections. After the debate, however, he said he would support that kind of legislation, and told KCUR he doesn’t agree with the Trump administration’s reported move to redefine gender.

So far in the race, polls have shown Davids in the lead over Yoder. FiveThirtyEight has the district leaning Democrat, forecasting a greater than 80 percent likelihood Davids will win. 

 

Andrea Tudhope is a reporter for KCUR in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @_tudhope. KCUR news intern Celisa Calacal contributed to this report.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – Jackson County authorities say a deputy shot a man who allegedly was involved in several shootings in Independence.

The sheriff’s office says the man was shot early Tuesday inside a vehicle that ended up in the front yard of a home after a police pursuit that went into the city of Independence.

Sheriff’s deputies began following the vehicle in an unincorporated part of the county.

Independence police spokesman officer John Syme says police identified the vehicle as one involved in several shootings Monday in Independence.

The sheriff’s office says the deputy shot the suspect while trying to arrest him. The suspect’s injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

The Kansas City Star reports Independence police were not involved in the shooting but are now leading the investigation.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has signed a bill to allow high schoolers to apply a computer science credit toward math, science or practical art credits needed for graduation.

Parson signed the bill Tuesday. It takes effect in Dec. 18.

The legislation also calls for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to roll out an online course intended to boost career awareness for science, technology, engineering and mathematics professions.

Lawmakers passed a similar bill during their annual legislative session that ended in May. But Parson vetoed it, saying the bidding criteria appeared to apply to only one company.

Lawmakers revised the bill during a special session in September in an attempt to open bidding for the online course up to more businesses.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A recently disbarred lawyer has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison for hitting a nurse while she was crossing a street.

Fifty-five-year-old Mark Logan was sentenced for aggravated battery and failure to yield to a pedestrian.

The victim, who was pregnant, was hit in October outside the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. The collision broke both of her legs. The woman’s baby is 10 months old and in good health.

The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred Logan in June after he voluntarily surrendered his law license.

The court noted in the disbarment order that Logan, who had a law office in Shawnee, faced six disciplinary complaints. He admitted to such violations as misappropriating client money and not cooperating with investigators.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The campaign treasurer for independent candidate Greg Orman has resigned to endorse Democrat Laura Kelly in the Kansas governor’s race.

Tim Owens, a former Republican state senator from Overland Park, resigned Tuesday, effective immediately. In a news release issued by Kelly’s campaign, Owens said it was time to unite behind Kelly and stop GOP candidate Kris Kobach.

Kelly and Kobach are locked in a tight race with Orman a distant third in recent polling.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Owen said he has supported Orman’s political ambitions for several years. He said he resigned because he believes electing Kobach would be one of the worst things that could happen to the state.

Orman said he accepted Owens’ resignation but he did not intend to leave the race.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly has raised $900,000 more than Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach since the end of July in the tight governor’s race.

New campaign finance reports filed Monday show that Kelly has raised $2.3 million, Kobach $1.3 million and Independent Greg Orman $805,000 over that period. In the final weeks of the campaign, Kelly has half a million available to spend, compared to $61,000 for Kobach and less than $15,000 for Orman.

Kobach, who is nationally known for advocating tough immigration and voter identification policies, enjoys the support of President Donald Trump. But Kelly said in a statement that her advantage is “enthusiasm.” She says Kansans of “all political stripes have a home in our campaign to rebuild our state.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Appeals court judges say a lawsuit challenging Missouri’s new voter photo identification law can proceed.

A Western District Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday undid a lower judge’s earlier decision to toss the case, meaning it can move forward.

At issue is a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Missouri NAACP and League of Women Voters alleging that Missouri lawmakers did not budget enough money to implement the new voter ID law. They argued that consequently, it should not be enforced.

The law had required voters lacking valid photo ID to sign a sworn statement and present another form of identification to cast a regular ballot, although another recent court ruling removed the law’s teeth.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The body of 4-year-old Missouri boy who has been missing for nearly a week has been found.

Jefferson City police Lt. David Williams said Darnell Gray’s body was discovered about noon in Jefferson City.

Williams said it was too early to tell how the boy died and the medical examiner has been called in. He would not discuss the condition of the body.

When asked if the case was now a homicide investigation, Williams would say only that investigators are working to determine how the boy died.

The FBI is assisting with the investigation.

Darnell was last seen Wednesday night at a Jefferson City apartment where he lives. A woman who was caring for him while his father worked reported the child missing early Thursday.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The mother of a missing 4-year-old Missouri boy is asking anyone with information to come forward.

Darnell Gray’s mother made a brief statement at a news conference Monday asking for the public’s help. Her name was not released.

Darnell was last seen Wednesday night at a Jefferson City apartment where he lives. His father was working early Thursday when a woman who was caring for the child reported him missing.

Police spokesman Lt. David Williams said neither parent was with Darnell when he disappeared, and the boy’s disappearance does not appear to be a custody situation.

Williams said the search has expanded beyond the neighborhood where Darnell lived, and he acknowledged the child could no longer be in Jefferson City.

An $11,000 reward is being offered for information in the case.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Authorities have drained a pond while searching for a 4-year-old boy who disappeared last week in Jefferson City.

Police say the pond is close to the apartment from which Darnell Gray was reported missing Thursday morning. Also missing was the boy’s coat, backpack, two juice boxes and some cookies.

Police Lt. David Williams says divers were in the pond last week but wanted to check it again.

As the search continues, the reward for information has been raised to $11,000. Williams says the amount of time that Darnell has been missing is “beyond critical.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has issued an endangered persons advisory for Darnell. He is believed to be wearing a black and white sleeper, black coat and red Spiderman shoes.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Crews are tearing down a giant waterslide that a 10-year-old Kansas boy was riding when he was decapitated two years ago.

Deconstruction of the 17-story Verruckt, which was billed as the world’s tallest waterslide, began Tuesday.

Caleb Schwab, the son of a Kansas legislator, was riding the slide at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas, in August 2016 when the raft he was in went airborne. Caleb was killed when he struck a metal rod that held a safety net in place.

The demolition was delayed because of disagreements over which parts of the slide should be preserved for evidence in criminal cases. Two maintenance workers have been acquitted of impeding the investigation. Charges are pending against the park’s co-owner and the ride’s designer.

JOHNSON COUNTY —Vice President Mike Pence is returning to Kansas Friday to help candidates in Kansas and Missouri.

The American Conservative Union and Family Research Council Action will be holding a campaign rally for Gubernatorial Candidate from Kansas Kris Kobach, Kevin Yoder (KS-03), Steve Watkins (KS-02) U.S. Senate Candidate Josh Hawley, U.S. House candidates Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) and Sam Graves (MO-6).

The event in Kansas City on Friday November 2, at 1:00PM at the Hy-Vee Arena (formerly Kemper Arena) will allow guests to be among the first to see the remodeled multilevel nationally recognized sports and entertainment venue. An innovative reuse of a city landmark. Site of the 1976 Republican National Convention.

The event is free.