Wichita City Council appears poised to shift to Democratic majority

It appears Wichita will have at least one, and probably two, new City Council members, potentially shifting the majority of the council in a Democratic direction.

With Election Day’s votes counted, incumbent Cindy Claycomb has almost certainly lost her seat to challenger Maggie Ballard in District 6.

In District 3, Mike Hoheisel holds a slim lead over incumbent Jared Cerullo. But the two candidates are separated by only 69 votes, a margin that both acknowledge is too close to call.

With incumbent Brandon Johnson easily disposing of his challenger Myron Ackerman, a win by Hoheisel would cement a 4-3 Democratic majority on the council that could last until the next election in two years.

Possibly the biggest election winner could be Mayor Brandon Whipple, a Democrat who has had a hard time advancing a more politically progressive agenda for the city on issues such as civil rights, ethics reform and COVID-19 response.

Although Hoheisel is not claiming victory and Cerullo is not conceding defeat, Whipple was ecstatically tweeting late Tuesday night about working with “council member-elect Hoheisel.”

“It’s not just a working majority of Democrats,” he said. “(But) really a millennial majority.” Ballard is 39 and Hoheisel is 38.

“You would have a shift in younger people who frankly are the ones who represent the biggest demographic of folks who are leaving Wichita.”

Ballard carried that theme as well, saying she’s excited to be part of a “new generation of young leaders that are really ready to get some work done.”

At present, there are four Republicans on the council: Cerullo, Jeff Blubaugh, Bryan Frye and Becky Tuttle. Claycomb was a Republican who switched to independent when she ran for council.

Council races are technically nonpartisan, but in reality, the parties are aligned with the candidates.

Ballard got strong support from the Kansas Democratic Party, which sent out several mailers on her behalf.

That in part offset a huge fundraising advantage by Claycomb, who spent at least $115,000 trying to defend the seat.

Hoheisel was also heavily outspent, but got outside help from the city firefighter’s union and the “Thompson Army” of Democrats who coalesced into a political force during James Thompson’s 2017 run for Congress. They lost that race, but have remained a significant presence in city and county races ever since.

As things stand now, if Hoheisel wins, he, Ballard, Johnson and Whipple will make up a four-member Democratic majority on the council.

If Cerullo stages a comeback win, the majority will be 4-3 Republican.

Both candidates said they expected a razor-close race in District 3. The district, representing southeast Wichita, traditionally has low turnout in elections so a few votes here and there can swing a race.

In this election, 6,697 votes have been cast and counted in District 6 and 5,018 in the far less competitive District 1 race.

In District 3, election night ended with 3,106 votes cast and counted.

On election night, Hoheisel said “We might have a Sarah Lopez finish here.”

It’s a reference to the 2020 Sedgwick County Commission election where Lopez trailed then-commissioner Michael O’Donnell by more than 500 votes after election night but caught up and passed him when all the late mail ballots had been counted.

Those ballots, and a smaller number of provisional votes, represent Cerullo’s last hope of holding on to his council seat. The count of the late-arriving votes will trickle out over the next few days, and the final certification will come after county commissioners canvass the vote on Nov. 12.

Cerullo has served since March when he was selected by the council to replace James Clendenin, who resigned rather than face official ouster proceedings after The Eagle revealed his role in a false smear campaign targeting Whipple’s mayoral run in 2019.

Cerullo said he’s “keeping a positive vibe” as the final counting begins. He based his campaign on the premise that major needs in south Wichita have gone unmet.

“No matter who wins this race, I hope south Wichita will get the attention it deserves,” he said.

Tuesday was the end of the line for Claycomb politically.

“Tonight is not nerve-racking,” Claycomb said as the votes piled up.

“I’ve done everything I can during this campaign and I’ve run a clean and positive campaign and I feel really good about that.”

District 6 represents Riverside and parts of north Wichita,

Claycomb said this run is her last.

“I love this city and I want to serve this city and it’s been an honor to serve this city, but I have no interest in running for an office again,” Claycomb said.

Ballard credited her victory to hard work.

“I’m just a normal person that cares about our community and I’ve been doing a lot of this work for a long time without all the celebrations that come along with a seat,” Ballard said.

“[Claycomb spent] $100,000 in the last month and I’ve spent $16,000, but I’ve been out there actually doing the work instead of paying other people to do it.”

Throughout the campaign season, all the incumbents enjoyed a huge fundraising advantage over the challengers.

That was most apparent in District 6, where Claycomb had spent more than $115,000 as of the Oct. 21 reporting deadline, with $36,500 available for the stretch run. She drew contributions from the city’s development and business communities.

Ballard spent $23,000, but the Kansas Democratic Party stepped in and funded several additional mailers in the district. She had $18,000 available for the final days of the campaign.

In District 3, Cerullo outspent Hoheisel $13,000 to $6,000, although the city firefighters union, which supported Hoheisel, weighed in with mailers on his behalf that helped even the gap.

Kristi Oberg, who cast her ballot at Riverside Church on Tuesday evening, said she voted for Claycomb because of her track record. She said the deluge of campaign spending in the last month didn’t influence her vote because her mind was already made up.

“I wanted to see Cindy Claycomb be city councilor again,” Oberg said.

Jill Miller, another Riverside voter, had a different opinion of her district’s representation on the council.

“I think what District 6 is fired up about the most, and why we have had such long lines here all day long, is because we are looking at voting for a city councilperson, and there are a lot of people in Riverside that have been upset about how certain city council people have favored developers over our neighborhood,” Miller said.

Campaign finance records show Claycomb collected $16,900 from corporations between July and October, including nine separate $500 donations from limited liability companies that all list developer Dave Burks’ 151 N Rock Island suite as their address in secretary of state filings.