Democrat Byers holds lead in Kansas House race that’s getting national attention
Update: 9:01 p.m.
With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Byers is maintaining a lead of 54.7 percent to Howerton’s 45.3 percent.
Update: 7:45 p.m.
Very early results in the District 86 Kansas House of Representatives race have Democratic candidate Stephanie Byers — who would be Kansas’ first openly transgender lawmaker — in the lead.
With 10 percent of the precincts counted at 7:45 p.m., Byers was leading her Republican challenger, Cyndi Howerton, 59.3 percent to 40.7 percent. Byers had 2,226 votes to Howerton’s 1,529.
Byers is a former North High School band teacher who retired from Wichita Public Schools after 29 years at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. She transitioned in 2014.
Howerton, who like Byers is a political newcomer, is a pastor’s wife with a bachelor’s degree in business administration who’s spent her career managing retail offices at a personal income tax preparation company.
Both are vying for the seat that Jim Ward, who has held the seat since 2013, is leaving so he can run for Kansas Senate. The district, which makes up a swath of south-central Wichita, has typically leaned Democrat and has voted for President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Byers’ campaign outraised her opponent’s, bringing in a total of $31,578.15 since late July as opposed to Howerton’s $9,360.05.
And if she wins the seat tonight against her challenger, Byers will make history by becoming the first out transgender legislator elected not only in Kansas but in the entire Midwest.
Only four out trans people have ever been elected to serve in state legislatures, and they all are still in office, including Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, who in 2017 became the first out trans person to win a state legislative seat. Depending on the outcome of Tuesday’s election, five more could be added, including Byers in Kansas as well as candidates in Delaware, Texas, Wisconsin and Vermont.
And although her gender identity is not her main focus, she said, she understands why it’s meaningful, especially for members of the trans community who have ever felt marginalized or had their identities discredited.
“For a lot of folks, if Kansas, the big red Republican state, can elect a trans person to a state legislator, the doors open up in a lot of other places for people,” she said. “And it helps those people who are transgender to reinforce that they are people who matter, they are people who are important and they’re people who can be successful in their lives.”
Howerton, 49, is a mother of four daughters ages 16-22 and has been married to her husband, Con, for 26 years. She describes herself as a problem-solver and solution-finder who has been sickened by the polarization between the two parties. She wants to bring civil conversations to Kansas, she said.
Her top priority, she said, is opening the economy, getting people back to work and finding ways to lower healthcare costs.
“We need someone who will truly listen and represent their district, not fight for their own personal agendas,” she said.
Byers, who’s been married to wife Lori Haas for five years, said she wants to give LGBTQ people a voice in politics, and one of her goals is to fight against discrimination. But that’s not her only platform. She also wants fair funding for schools and is in favor of Medicaid expansion.
She was lured into politics after meeting Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers at the 2019 Wichita Pride Parade.
A week later, in October 2019, she was in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., giving a speech on behalf of GLSEN on the day the court was hearing arguments in Bostock vs. Clayton County — a landmark case in which the court upheld that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“And I thought, ‘I’m really being given an opportunity here to do this,’” Byers said. “This gives me a chance to use my voice for more than just a rally here and there, but actually where I can make a concrete difference for people.”
When asked outside polling places on Tuesday whether the candidates’ gender identities influenced how they voted, many said no.
Among them was Bill Moore, who voted Tuesday morning at Heart of Christ Church, near Lincoln and Grove.
Moore voted for Howerton, Byers’ Republican opponent, he said, because she came to his house and seemed like “a very level headed young lady.” He didn’t even know until after he’d voted that Byers was transgender, but that wouldn’t have mattered to him, he said.
“Anymore I don’t think it matters.... I think that people are looking for honesty and integrity. Those are the two things that should matter.”
Even Howerton said Byers’ gender identity wasn’t important, and she didn’t bring it up while campaigning, she said.
“It’s not an issue in this race,” Howerton said. “We are running on ideas of what is best for our district and state. My goal has always been to be an advocate not an activist.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Democrat Byers holds lead in Kansas House race that’s getting national attention."
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