Incumbents O’Donnell, Dennis win Sedgwick County Commission Republican primaries
11:50 update: Claiming victory, Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell is predicting he’ll have an easier race in November against Democratic nominee Sarah Lopez than he had Tuesday against Kathleen Garrison and Cindy Miles.
“I know south Wichita better than any of these candidates and I’ve become a friend of Haysville and a friend of Clearwater over these last four years,” O’Donnell said in a phone interview after his victory late Tuesday. “Once you break down all the precincts, I think you’ll see that my margin of victory was very solid in south Wichita and that I did well in Haysville and Clearwater.
“In a three-candidate field, to get over 50 percent of the vote is an impressive win.”
O’Donnell noted that he got about 800 more votes than Lopez, who was unopposed on the Democratic ballot.
He foreshadowed his November campaign, painting Lopez as a recent newcomer to the district.
“The general election is going to be far easier than this primary was because I ran against two wonderful ladies who love our community and have raised families in our community and have actual ties,” he said. “Once everyone finds out Sarah Lopez is still having her mail forwarded from her last address, I don’t think they’re going to be impressed.”
David Dennis, who beat out Hunter Larkin in District 3, said his victory was a sign that his district approves of his steady hand on the commission since he was elected in 2016.
“Folks recognized I had a lot of leadership experience,” Dennis said. “We’re in the middle of a crisis right now and you need sound leadership during a crisis, and as we move forward we’ve got some big issues ahead of us and we really need to work once we get through the COVID-19 crisis.”
Dennis said Larkin, 21, has a bright political future ahead of him.
“When he just called a minute ago, he said that Jamey Blubaugh just stepped down as (Goddard) mayor and they’ve appointed Hunter as the new mayor, so he’s got a brand new job right away,” Dennis said.
Dennis said he doesn’t know much about his Democratic opponent Mike Iuen, a former television news anchor.
11:27 p.m. update: With final returns in for the Republican primary, Michael O’Donnell and David Dennis both held on to their seats on the Sedgwick County Commission.
O’Donnell finished the night with 52% of the vote, with Kathleen Garrison in second with just under 28%. Planning Commissioner Cindy Miles trailed with just under 20%.
Dennis held off a strong challenge by Goddard City Council President Hunter Larkin.
Dennis tallied just under 54%, to Larkin’s 46%.
9:45 p.m. update: Michael O’Donnell and David Dennis, both incumbent Republicans, are holding onto their early leads in the Sedgwick County Commission primary race.
In District 2, O’Donnell holds a 48%-31% lead over Kathleen Garrison with 4,644 votes counted. Cindy Miles trails both with 22% of the votes. Fourteen of 48 precincts have reported results.
In District 3, Dennis’ lead over Hunter Larkin has dropped slightly. His lead is 58%-42% with 9,523 votes counted. Twenty-three out of 55 precincts have reported results.
8:30 p.m. update: Michael O’Donnell and David Dennis, both incumbent Republicans, have jumped out to early leads in the Sedgwick County Commission race.
In District 2, O’Donnell took an early lead among advance voters with challengers Kathleen Garrison and Cindy Miles not far behind. With 2,756 votes counted, O’Donnell had 42.9%, Garrison had 34.7% and Miles had 22.4%.
In District 3, with 5,920 votes counted, Dennis led Hunter Larkin 61%-39%.
Original story:
The polls have closed in a three-way race for the Republican nomination for the District 2 seat on the Sedgwick County Commission and a two-man race for District 3.
The District 2 race matched an embattled incumbent Commissioner Michael O’Donnell against two challengers, Planning Commissioner Cindy Miles and Kathleen Garrison, whose primary political experience was as an anti-abortion activist.
The campaign supporting O’Donnell relied heavily on mail advertising, including a mailer touting his opposition to local plans to tear down the Century II Convention and Performing Arts Center and replace it with new facilities under the $1 billion-plus Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, which is being formulated by a committee of public, quasi-public and business interests.
O’Donnell also claimed in the campaign to have been the first elected official in Kansas to endorse President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. All three candidates said they’ll vote for Trump in the upcoming election.
Garrison criticized his record of governmental ethics, including a 2018 indictment in federal court on charges of money laundering and fraud related to his handling of campaign contributions. O’Donnell was acquitted of most charges in 2019 and the remainder were dropped.
She also criticized O’Donnell for his role in raising money that he and City Council member James Clendenin passed through a nonprofit charity in an effort to boost the 2019 re-election campaign of then-Mayor Jeff Longwell.
O’Donnell said he thought the money would go to billboards and did not know it would eventually be used to set up an out-of-state shell company and stage a smear campaign video falsely accusing Longwell’s opponent, Mayor Brandon Whipple, of sexual harassment.
Miles’ criticism of O’Donnell was more muted, however she did say in the course of the campaign she thought he’s made “wrong choices” and wouldn’t support him if he won the primary. Garrison said she would.
Miles’ campaign leaned heavily on her long resume of serving on community service boards, including Wichita City Council District 3 Advisory Board, Wichita Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention, Mental Health & Substance Abuse Coalition, Newman University National Alumni Board, Crime Stoppers Advisory Board and Wichita Crime Commission board.
O’Donnell’s two opponents criticized the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but from different sides.
Miles said the county’s response was too little and too inconsistent after the state handed off control of the pandemic to local government.
She said she would have continued a plan recommended by Gov. Laura Kelly for a phased approach to restarting the economy after the statewide stay-at-home order expired.
Garrison said the county went too far by ordering some businesses to close and limiting mass gatherings. She said that made things worse by adding economic hardship on top of the fear of infection.
She said the top priority should have been making sure there were adequate medical services and hospital beds to accommodate persons needing treatment COVID-19 disease.
O’Donnell’s campaign out-fundraised both of his opponents, amassing $37,640 since Jan. 1 after starting the reporting period with $72,763.84 in cash that came in the last half of 2019 and spent most of the money he raised in 2020. Miles reported $7,120.87 in donor contributions, with $311.56 in cash on hand to start, and spent all of it. Garrison raised $3,911.14 and reported about $2,900 in campaign expenses.
District 2 represents Haysville, Clearwater and parts of southwest Wichita. The winner of the Republican primary will go head-to-head with Democrat Sarah Lopez, an information technologies specialist at Ascension Via Christi.
District 3
The District 3 Republican primary race is between incumbent Commissioner David Dennis, 73, and Goddard City Council president Hunter Larkin, 21.
Dennis, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former high school teacher, was elected to the commission in 2016 and served two years as chairman of the board during a tumultuous stint at the county that included an FBI investigation and the ouster of the county attorney and selection of a new county manager.
Larkin, a real estate agent and head of finance and human resources for an oil pipeline manufacturer, like O’Donnell, campaigned on saving Century II and criticized Dennis for approving funding for a study that called for its demolition.
Larkin also attacked Dennis on his voting record. Dennis voted with Commissioner Lacey Cruse, a Democrat, and Commission Chair Pete Meitzner on an initial COVID-19 stay-at-home order and to elect Cruse as vice chair of the board.
In District 3, fundraising results showed Dennis having twice as much cash to spend as his opponent. Dennis started the year with $2,746.90 and added another $16,600 in campaign donations since Jan. 1. He spent just over $3,700 during the reporting period, his campaign finance report shows. Larkin’s campaign received $9,057.11 in donations and spent just over half that for the reporting period.
The 3rd District includes Andale, Bentley, Cheney, Colwich, Goddard, Garden Plain, Mount Hope and Viola as well as far west Wichita. The winner will face former news anchor Mike Iuen, a Democrat.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 8:45 PM.
