Name Ponka-We Victors | Political party Democratic Party | |
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Nationality Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma-Tohono O'odham Native American Residence Newman University, Wichita, Kansas Alma mater Wichita State University Profession Community Support Worker Website | ||
Education Wichita State University | ||
Ponka-We Victors (born July 7, 1981) is a community support worker from Wichita, Kansas who has been a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 103, since 2011. She is the only Native American in the Kansas legislature.
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Background
Victors is a member of the Ponca and Tohono O'odham tribes of Native Americans, and a lifelong resident of Wichita. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Newman University in 2005, and a Masters of Public Administration from Wichita State University in 2008.
Elected office
Victors, who had worked as a Congressional intern, had been a long-time backer of Delia Garcia, the incumbent Representative from the 103rd District. In 2010, Garcia, instead of running for re-election, helped Victors file as the only candidate for the 2010 Democratic primary election just hours before the filing deadline, thus making her the presumptive winner of the seat – the last year in which a Republican vied for this seat was 1998, when incumbent Democrat Thomas Klein polled 57% of the vote in a three-way race. Victors ran unopposed in the November general election.
In 2012, she beat challenger Angela Martinez in the Democratic primary and was again unopposed in the November general election.
"Illegal immigrants" speech
In 2013, Victors drew national attention when during a hearing on a bill to deny in-state tuition to Kansas high school graduates who were undocumented immigrants, Victors addressed Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and other advocates of the bill, saying, "I think it's funny, Mr. Kobach, because when you mention illegal immigrant, I think of all of you."
Career
Victors is currently employed by a company called Behavioral Link.