Wichita bans corporate political donations on last-minute party-line council vote

Corporations and limited liability companies will no longer be allowed to contribute to Wichita City Council and mayoral campaigns after a contentious debate and 4-3 vote Tuesday.

The four Democrats on the council approved the measure over the objection of their Republican colleagues during the final meeting before incoming Mayor Lily Wu, a Libertarian, and two new Republican council members take office.

In a break from standard procedure, outgoing Mayor Brandon Whipple made an emergency declaration, allowing the council to finalize the reform Tuesday and forgo the standard second reading that would have otherwise been required next week.

Whipple said the emergency declaration was necessary because the state-mandated $500 contribution limit for individuals and businesses resets with the start of a new year. The contribution limit technically resets between the primary and general election for local races.

“If you gave tons of money last campaign, you now can do this tomorrow if this doesn’t pass today,” Whipple said.

The Republicans didn’t buy his logic.

“I don’t think anyone would think that this is an emergency, and as a public health professional before I was elected to this position, I am just concerned with diluting the word ‘emergency,’” council member Becky Tuttle said.

“I also believe firmly that businesses should have a say in who runs our city,” she said. “Businesses pay property tax, they pay sales tax. I don’t think they should get to vote, but I do believe they should have a say.”

The city previously barred political committees, corporations, partnerships, trusts, labor unions, business groups and other organizations from contributing to candidates. But those restrictions were dropped in 2015, five years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision, which prohibits the government from restricting independent spending for political campaigns by corporations and other groups.

“I understand the thinking of removing this in 2015 with the Citizens United ruling. But since then, we’ve had a number of cases, and it seems like they have ruled that we do have a place to properly give oversight as far as LLCs go,” said Vice Mayor Mike Hoheisel, who championed the new ban on corporate political donations.

“It’s about the influence that that could generate on particular votes or pushing for particular projects as well,” he said.

Term-limited council member Bryan Frye, participating in his final city meeting, took exception to the notion that campaign money can buy favor at City Hall.

“For someone to accuse or make a statement that I’m going to be unduly influenced because an LLC or corporation donated to my campaign, it’s insulting,” Frye said. “That’s why we have an ethics board.”

Hoheisel said the timing of Tuesday’s vote on the eve of a new mayor and council taking office was in no way a response to the 2023 election cycle, which saw Wu shatter previous fundraising records, including collecting about $115,000 from businesses.

“This is something I’ve been working on before we knew who the candidates were last election, so I want to make that clear this isn’t in response to anyone in particular,” Hoheisel said. “I did speak with the incoming mayor a couple of weeks ago and expressed it to her as well.”

Wu, asked by The Eagle to comment on the proposal last week, sent an emailed statement that said in part: “Individuals and businesses are both vital to our community and should be able to participate in campaigns. The state already mandates a $500 contribution limit per individual or entity, and attempting to manipulate this could have other consequences.”

The council held a workshop on campaign finance reform last year but Tuesday marked the first time a draft of the ordinance was brought before the body.

“It is not the contributions that win these elections,” said council member Jeff Blubaugh, who also participated in his final city meeting Tuesday, and who has announced plans to challenge Sarah Lopez for her Sedgwick County Commission seat in 2024.

Whipple was elected mayor in 2019 after raising less money than incumbent Jeff Longwell, and both Hoheisel and Maggie Ballard won their seats in 2021 despite being outraised by their opponents.

Frye said eliminating corporate donations could actually negatively impact transparency. In lieu of making donations from business entities that can be traced back to them, high-dollar donors will now likely attempt to influence campaigns by contributing anonymously through political action committees, he said.

“It will be harder to track who’s donating and who is contributing to a candidate and what’s really driving it,” Frye said.

The majority of public speakers who addressed the council Tuesday said they supported the ban on corporate donations.

“We would like to close the door to extravagant amounts of outside money entering our local and municipal elections,” said Jessica Carr, speaking on behalf of the Women for Kansas Wichita chapter.

Midtown resident Janice Bradley said the reform is a sensible campaign finance solution.

“We need to have a situation where ordinary people can win elections and not money candidates.”

This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 1:57 PM.