Politics & Government
Topeka Mayor De La Isla launches bid for Congress, filling Democratic void in race
Topeka mayor Michelle De La Isla is entering the Democratic race for Kansas’s 2nd Congressional District, filling a vacuum created when the party’s only candidate dropped out in October.
The first-term mayor’s entry ends months of uncertainty among Democrats as critical fundraising and campaigning time slipped away. Her decision ensures the party now has a candidate who can begin building an operation as Rep. Steve Watkins and Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner contend for the Republican nomination.
De La Isla said in an interview that health care and everyday issues will be central to her campaign. She promised she would fight to preserve the flow of federal dollars to Kansas if state lawmakers expand Medicaid this year.
“I think that the magic of having been mayor is the fact that our state and our nation right now is in this fight about red and blue and what’s wrong and right – I don’t see that. I see people and I see their needs,” she said.
De La Isla, 43, was elected Topeka’s first Latina mayor in 2017 by 501 votes – a narrow victory in a race with more than 16,000 ballots cast. She was first elected to the Topeka City Council in 2013.
She has lived in Kansas since 2000 and holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from Wichita State University. De La Isla has also worked as the director of Topeka Habitat for Humanity and as a diversity and inclusion representative at Westar Energy (now Evergy).
Serving in Congress would mark the latest achievement in a life marked by significant challenges. Born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, De La Isla was homeless at 17 and pregnant at 19, according to an official city biography.
“I’m a person that was lifted up by different people in my community and in my life and I want to keep giving back,” she said.
It’s unclear how much interest her campaign will draw from national Democrats.
As of November, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had no plans to target the district in 2020. The 2018 Democratic candidate, Lawrence attorney Paul Davis, lost to Watkins by one percentage point despite $3 million from the organization.
EMILY’s List, a national organization dedicated to electing Democratic women, has continued to express interest in the district, however. In an interview, De La Isla didn’t reveal whether she had spoken with the DCCC or EMILY’s List.
Her candidacy comes less than a year before the election and after Democrat Abbie Hodgson, a speechwriter for former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, dropped out following poor fundraising numbers. De La Isla said “now is the right time” for her to get in and promised to campaign hard.
If she wins, De La Isla would enter Congress just after a presidential election in which Democrats have emphasized health care reform. She has endorsed former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg for president and said she supports a public option, which would allow Americans to choose government-run health plans if they want.
But her greatest health care focus, she said, is protecting federal funding for Medicaid expansion.
If Kansas expands Medicaid, the federal government would pay 90 percent of the cost. Expansion was part of the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that Republicans have attempted for years to repeal. Those efforts are likely to continue to fail as long as Democrats remain in control of the House or take the White House in November.
“My biggest concern once I get elected to Congress will be ensuring that those funds are available so that our state is able to access it should they choose to do so, and I hope they do,” De La Isla said.
Her announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a major escalation of the United States’ conflict with Iran that is expected to draw retaliation. Republicans have generally praised the strike while Democrats have questioned whether the decision was strategically sound.
Watkins, the incumbent, on Friday said that Trump understands that actions have risks, but “inaction returns more consequences in the long run.”
De La Isla said there was “no doubt” that Soleimani had “a lot of American blood on his hands” and was a danger to the United States. But the bigger question, she said, is whether the country and American forces are safer after the killing than before.
“All I’m hoping and praying for is that our president is able to provide us a plan now that this has occurred on how we’re going to mitigate the dangers that are being commented about for our country,” she said.
De La Isla is also launching her campaign ahead of an anticipated trial of Trump in the Senate after the House impeached him last month. Asked if impeachment was appropriate, she responded that it happened last year.
“I’m not so much concerned about what happened last year,” De La Isla said. “I’m concerned about, again, understanding what our constituents are concerned about right now and how we can better serve our constituents tomorrow.”
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