Ponka-We Victors (born July 7, 1981, in Ponca and Tohono Oʼodham) is a community support worker from Wichita, Kansas, who was a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 103 from 2011 to 2023.
Background
Victors is an enrolled member of both the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Tohono Oʼodham Nation, and a lifelong resident of Wichita.
She earned a bachelor's degree in
biology from Newman University in 2005, and a Master 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 Kansas's 103rd congressional district. In 2010, Garcia supported Victors in filing as the only candidate for the 2010 Democratic
Partisan primary hours before the filing deadline. Victors became the presumptive winner of the seat. No Republican candidate has run for the seat since 1998, when incumbent Democrat
Thomas Klein polled 57% of the vote in a three-way race.
Victors ran unopposed in the November
general election.
[ Official Kansas House of Representatives General Election Results, 2010]
In 2012, she beat challenger Angela Martinez in the Democratic primary and was again unopposed in the November general election.[ Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidates for the 2012 primary (official)"][ C-SPAN, "Kansas – Summary Vote Results" ]
"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, she 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."
[ Marso, Andy. "Emotions flow during immigrant tuition hearing; Indian lawmaker to Kobach: Who's the illegal immigrant here?", Topeka Capital-Journal March 20, 2013][ Planas, Roque. "Kris Kobach Slammed By Native American Rep. Ponka-We Victors: ‘When You Mention Illegal Immigrant, I Think Of All Of You'" Huffington Post March 21, 2013]
Career
Victors is a social worker at Behavioral Link.
External links
