Eli Woody IV

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Eli Woody IV

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Topeka High School

Bachelor's

Washburn University, 2012

Graduate

University of Colorado Denver, 2020

Personal

Birthplace

Topeka, Kan.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Education advocate

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign YouTube

Campaign TikTok

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Eli Woody IV (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Kansas House of Representatives to represent District 33. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Woody also ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Kansas' 2nd Congressional District. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024.

Woody completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Eli Woody IV was born in Topeka, Kansas. Woody's career experience includes working as an education advocate. He earned a graduate degree from the University of Colorado Denver in 2020 and a bachelor's degree from Washburn University in 2012. Woody has been affiliated with the National Speech and Debate Association.

Elections

2024

Kansas State Assembly

See also: Kansas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024

Kansas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Republican primary)

Kansas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Kansas District 2

Derek Schmidt defeated Nancy Boyda and John Hauer in the general election for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Schmidt (R)	57.1	172,847
		Nancy Boyda (D)	38.2	115,685
		John Hauer (L)	4.7	14,229

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 302,761
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Soetaert (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2

Nancy Boyda defeated Matthew Kleinmann in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nancy Boyda	51.7	13,571
		Matthew Kleinmann	48.3	12,670

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,241
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Joseph Swain (D)
• Eli Woody IV (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2

Derek Schmidt defeated Shawn Tiffany, Jeff Kahrs, Chad Young, and Michael Ogle in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Schmidt	53.1	34,971
		Shawn Tiffany	19.8	13,013
		Jeff Kahrs	17.7	11,634
		Chad Young	5.2	3,412
		Michael Ogle	4.3	2,858

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 65,888
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Kansas District 2

John Hauer advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on April 20, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		John Hauer (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Woody in this election.

U.S. Congress

See also: Kansas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024

Kansas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Republican primary)

Kansas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Kansas District 2

Derek Schmidt defeated Nancy Boyda and John Hauer in the general election for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Schmidt (R)	57.1	172,847
		Nancy Boyda (D)	38.2	115,685
		John Hauer (L)	4.7	14,229

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 302,761
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Soetaert (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2

Nancy Boyda defeated Matthew Kleinmann in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nancy Boyda	51.7	13,571
		Matthew Kleinmann	48.3	12,670

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,241
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Joseph Swain (D)
• Eli Woody IV (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2

Derek Schmidt defeated Shawn Tiffany, Jeff Kahrs, Chad Young, and Michael Ogle in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Schmidt	53.1	34,971
		Shawn Tiffany	19.8	13,013
		Jeff Kahrs	17.7	11,634
		Chad Young	5.2	3,412
		Michael Ogle	4.3	2,858

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 65,888
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Kansas District 2

John Hauer advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Kansas District 2 on April 20, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		John Hauer (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Woody in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Eli Woody IV completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Woody's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Eli Woody is a former teacher, currently working for an educational nonprofit which gets middle school and high school students involved in competitive speech and debate. Eli grew up in a working-class household in Northeast Kansas, often spending time in the local Boys and Girls Club where his father, Elgin, was the Executive Director. The Woody family has a decades-long history of public service in Northeast Kansas. Eli and his wife, Amy, live in Kansas City, KS with their son, Theo and two dogs, Luna and Tonks. Eli is running for the Kansas House of Representatives after seeing many obstacles keeping his students from learning in the classroom. Issues like a lack of access to healthcare, transportation, affordable food and housing impacted the ability of Eli’s students to learn. After hitting these obstacles frequently, Eli decided it was time to get to a place where he could do something about them, rather than just respond to them. These issues are policy issues that affect adults and youth alike in Kansas and across the nation. And they are the driving forces of Eli Woody’s campaign. Kansas voted in 2022 to protect women’s reproductive freedom; this issue is personal to Eli and Amy Woody, in their difficult journey to become parents. Eli is committed to protecting women’s reproductive rights.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Eli is committed to protecting women's reproductive freedom. Almost 70% of this Statehouse district voted in 2022 to keep the government from making women's reproductive care decisions. Eli will fight legislation that infringes upon this freedom and will fight for legislation that protects it and keeps government out of medical offices.
• Eli is committed to fighting to give all Kansans a sense of financial peace. The cost of groceries, gas, healthcare, and housing continues to go up while wages haven't been able to keep up. No one should be forced to choose between paying a healthcare bill and paying for housing. Kansans deserve to be payed fair wages and work in fair working conditions. The hardest working Kansans should be the ones who benefit the most. It is time to rebuild the middle class, instead of helping the wealthy get wealthier.
• Eli is committed to fighting for affordable and accessible healthcare. Healthcare is the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country. Eli believes that is a gross failure on the part of representatives at both the national and state level. In Kansas, we need to expand Medicaid, as a start. After that, we must do whatever we can to help Kansans who work in healthcare and their patients. Working class Kansans deserve to live healthy and happy lives. But the current state of healthcare affordability makes that nearly impossible for many.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education, Healthcare, and Workers' Rights.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Being genuine, honest, transparent, empathetic, and persistent.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I'm empathetic, patient, and persistent. As a teacher, I fought for tools, resources, and adaptations that fit my students' specific needs. Even if something does not personally impact me, I am happy to listen, learn, then advocate for the solution that is needed. For example, I am not diabetic. But the cost of insulin has skyrocketed over the past few years, and I will gladly fight for legislation that would make insulin more affordable and accessible.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core task of a representative is to listen to the people of the district, hear what concerns are on their shoulders, then go fight for solutions to those concerns, in the Statehouse. The job is to fight for people, not special interest groups or to simply uphold party politics.

What committees interest you?

Education

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

The more transparency and accountability, the better. Democracy dies in darkness. As representatives, we should operate in the light.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Eli Woody IV completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Woody's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Hi, I'm Eli Woody (Elgin Woody IV). I was born and raised in Topeka by two parents who chose careers in community service. One worked for the State of Kansas and the other for the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka. Personally, I worked as a teacher for seven school years; and while I am no longer in the classroom, I'm still in Education now, working for an educational nonprofit. This area and this community means a lot to me! Kansas is special and Kansans are special. Our community is the heartbeat of everything-- from the churches, schools, and sporting events we attend to the people in our neighborhood. And while it may not look like it now, that community should drive what our elected officials do for us. We can make that happen! I'd love to help make that happen with you.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Politics shouldn't just be a game for the rich and powerful; it is a system that should work for all of us, especially those in most need.
• The voices of the community should be prioritized over the special interests and profits of corporations.
• Kansans and other Americans are struggling financially. We need more elected officials who have personally felt that struggle, so they know exactly where to start on solutions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Financial peace, Education, Corruption, Healthcare, Reproductive Rights, Responsible Gun Ownership, Democracy, Energy & The Environment, Civil Rights & Equality, Housing.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Eli Woody IV campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Kansas House of Representatives District 33	Lost general	$27,285	$0
2024*	U.S. House Kansas District 2	Withdrew primary	$40,623	$42,791
Grand total			$67,908	$42,791
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 Elections

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Candidate

U.S. House Kansas District 2

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Personal

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Footnotes

[show]

Kansas' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Roger Marshall (R)

Jerry Moran (R)

Representatives

District 1

Tracey Mann (R)

District 2

Derek Schmidt (R)

District 3

Sharice Davids (D)

District 4

Ron Estes (R)

Republican Party (5)

Democratic Party (1)