Sedgwick County GOP cancels vote on Becky Tuttle censure over transgender proclamation

The Sedgwick County Republican Party scrapped its plans to censure Wichita City Council member Becky Tuttle for voting “out of step” with the GOP.

Around 100 local Republicans showed up to the party’s monthly meeting Thursday night expecting to vote on whether to censure the council representative for east Wichita.

Instead, Sedgwick County GOP Chairman John Whitmer announced that no vote on the censure would be held. About half of the room applauded the decision while others became visibly upset.

A draft of the proposed censure obtained by The Eagle showed party officials planned to reprimand Tuttle for several votes over the past year where Tuttle voted with Democratic council members Maggie Ballard, Mike Hoheisel and Brandon Johnson. Those votes included a proclamation for Transgender Day of Visibility, funding for public restrooms and public art, and nominating the Crown Uptown for placement on the local historic registry.

“The folks who were interested in pursuing that and Council member Tuttle have had conversations, which is probably where it should have started in the first place, and I’m encouraged that they have decided to work together and find a resolution,” Whitmer said.

As several precinct committee members began talking over each other, demanding further explanation from Whitmer, Joseph “Tex” Dozier stood in front of the crowd and attempted to debate the importance of censuring “really questionable Republicans.”

“Let’s give them a chance to see what they can accomplish when they meet together,” Whitmer said of Tuttle and the members who brought the motion forward. “The best thing we can do at this point is let them work it out on their end.”

Several dissenting members interrupted Whitmer, demanding that Dozier be allowed to speak. But former Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn moved to adjourn the meeting, a motion that passed.

Dozier continued talking until he was interrupted by another party member.

“You’re out of line,” GOP District 618 Committeeman Michael J. Sampson, of Wichita, said. “Hush it! It’s been shelved. Take it outside if you still want to talk about it.”

Whitmer took the microphone from Dozier, and GOP treasurer and former Wichita council member Bryan Frye told everyone to clear the room.

“So much for transparency,” one committeeman said.

Whitmer said in an interview after the meeting that party leadership placed no conditions on the conversation with Tuttle and is not making any demands of her.

“As a Republican Party, we need Becky Tuttle,” Whitmer said. “We need her to work with the other Republicans on the city council and, frankly, to oppose the liberal Democrats on the city council. And we’re not going to get that if we’re not working together with her. And I hope the conversation is productive.”

Because Tuttle is a nonpartisan officeholder, the censure would have been a largely symbolic move with no effect besides a public admonishment. Unlike state and county government seats — where the party gets to name a replacement if someone resigns or is removed from office — political parties have no claim over Wichita’s city council seats. Political parties are not included on the ballot and, at the city level, district advisory boards hold the power to replace members if they resign or are removed from office.

Whitmer said the party needs Tuttle on board with the party’s platform to advance the party’s agenda at City Hall. If Tuttle would decide to leave the party, only two out of seven seats would be held by Republicans — Dalton Glasscock and JV Johnston. He said he hopes Tuttle’s conversations with committee members resolve the conflict.

“We want them to have an open — it’s not even a negotiation. We want them to have an open conversation, and hopefully it’s productive. Hopefully they get together and we can, you know, put this behind us. Look, they’ve got to hire a city manager. They’ve got a budget to deal with. And, frankly, as a Republican Party, we have one job: Beat Democrats. And I’d rather focus on that.”

Tuttle did not attend the meeting. Glasscock, a GOP precinct committeeman who would have been eligible to vote on the censure, was also absent.

Divide over transgender proclamation

A party member motioned to censure Tuttle at the March 20 monthly GOP meeting but had no written resolution prepared at the time, so the local party tabled discussion until Thursday night.

The draft censure lists her vote for Transgender Visibility Day as the top reason for her censure. The draft says it was “an action perceived by many within the party as inconsistent with the traditional values and platform upheld by the Sedgwick County Republican Party, thereby raising concerns about her commitment to representing the party’s core constituency.”

The censure also lists a vote Tuttle cast on April 1, two weeks after the original censure motion, to nominate the Crown Uptown Theatre to the city’s register of historic places, a move aimed at saving the theater from possible demolition. Mike Brown, the Tulsa-based theater owner, has signaled he plans to tear down the building after the council refused to increase the theater’s capacity from 860 to 2,066 – beyond what is allowed under the city’s zoning fire codes. The local GOP said the vote was “prioritizing government overreach over individual freedom.”

Tuttle voted with Ballard, Hoheisel and Johnson while Glasscock, Johnston and Mayor Lily Wu voted against it.

Ballard, Hoheisel and Johnson issued statements of support for Tuttle at Tuesday’s council meeting while her other colleagues did not.

“I believe that every person from this bench has the ability to vote their conscience,” Glasscock said. “They’re elected by their individual constituencies; they’re accountable to their constituencies. And I would say that for Councilman (sic) Tuttle, as well as every individual on this bench.”

Wu, a registered Libertarian, changed the subject at Tuesday’s meeting from Tuttle’s censure to an abusive email she received from an unnamed source who called her transphobic and racist.

Wu, who identified Tuttle and the three Democrats as the council members who voted for the Transgender Day of Visibility proclamation at a March council meeting, on Thursday declined to comment on the Republican Party’s move to censure Tuttle.

“I’m not part of the GOP,” Wu said Thursday morning. “I have no comment.”

Asked her thoughts on her fellow council members issuing statements of support, she said, “I have no comments regarding that.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 10:43 PM.