It’s Commissioner Dalton Glasscock now; O’Donnell’s replacement sworn in for 39 days
Former Republican Party Chairman Dalton Glasscock is now Sedgwick County Commissioner Dalton Glasscock.
Glasscock was sworn in mid-meeting during Wednesday’s County Commission session after the county received word that Gov. Laura Kelly had confirmed his appointment to the seat vacated by Michael O’Donnell over his role in a 2019 false smear campaign and cover-up attempt targeting Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple.
On Monday, Glasscock was chosen to fill the seat by 28 Republican precinct committee men and women in the 2nd Commission District, which includes Haysville and parts of southwest Sedgwick County. That nomination was sent to the governor, who makes the official appointment.
Glasscock will serve for the 39 days remaining in O’Donnell’s current term. On Jan 10, he’ll turn the seat over to Sarah Lopez, the Democratic challenger who beat O’Donnell in the Nov. 3 general election.
Glasscock didn’t actually sit in O’Donnell’s former seat after taking office.
Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner participated in the meeting by teleconference and after Glasscock was sworn in by County Clerk Kelly Arnold, he slid into the seat usually occupied by Commissioner Lacey Cruse.
O’Donnell stepped down rather than face an ouster proceeding by District Attorney Marc Bennett to remove him from office over the 2019 campaign attack on Whipple during his race to unseat incumbent Mayor Jeff Longwell.
Glasscock was also a target of the smear campaign led by O’Donnell, Wichita City Council member James Clendenin and state Rep. Michael Capps.
Bennett decided to pursue ouster against O’Donnell and Clendenin after an audio recording surfaced in which they and Capps were heard scheming to blame Glasscock for a widely condemned video campaign ad that falsely accused Whipple of sexually harassing college-age female interns while serving in the state Legislature.
The allegations in the ad were lifted from a Kansas City Star/Eagle report in which interns complained of harassment by Republican senators. Whipple, a Democrat in the House of Representatives, was not involved.
The recording in which O’Donnell, Clendenin and Capps plotted to blame Glasscock amid the backlash over the video was secretly made by young media entrepreneur Matthew Colborn, who, at their direction, produced the ad featuring paid actresses in darkened silhouette posing as Capitol interns reading a script of false allegations against Whipple.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Tuesday that he didn’t have the authority to pursue ouster of Capps, a power reserved for the state House of Representatives where Capps serves.
It is largely a moot point, because Capps lost his seat in the August primary and will leave office anyway in January when new members are sworn in for the new session.
Bennett has filed an ouster proceeding against Clendenin, who has said he doesn’t plan to resign his seat on the City Council.
Clendenin has about a year to go in his current term. He can’t run for re-election because of council term limits.
Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Eagle
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 11:09 AM.
