Who’s running for mayor in Wichita? Here’s an up-to-date list of candidates

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple faces a crowded field of challengers in the 2023 city elections.

Celeste Racette, organizer of the Save Century II group, officially kicked off her campaign on Feb. 3.

Bryan Frye, a term-limited City Council member for District 5, made his announcement on Feb. 16.

Former television reporter Lily Wu launched her campaign on April 2, drawing the endorsement of Sedgwick County Commission Chair Pete Meitzner, who had flirted with the idea of running himself.

Jared Cerullo, who served nine months on the council after being appointed to replace James Clendenin in District 3, officially filed to run on May 23.

The filing deadline is June 1.

Other declared candidates include Julie Rose Stroud, an environmental health specialist; Thomas Kane, the owner of Whitefish Media; Anthony Gallardo, an IT professional who recently moved to Wichita; and Shelia M. Davis, who has not yet responded to The Eagle’s interview requests. Navy veteran Irving Freige filed to run in November 2021 but has since withdrawn from the race.

Whipple, who has not officially announced, has said he plans to run for reelection but that it’s too early to speculate on who his biggest challenger will be in the August primary. The top two finishers advance to a runoff in November.

City elections are nonpartisan, meaning party affiliations do not show up on the ballot. State and local party committees often choose sides in city elections with regard to funding and other forms of support.

Declared candidates

Brandon Whipple

Position: Mayor

Past: Kansas House of Representatives, lecturer Wichita State University

Education: Wichita State University, Franklin Pierce University

Voter registration: Democratic

Whipple, a former state legislator, shouldered his way through a crowded field of nine candidates for mayor in 2019, defeating incumbent Mayor Jeff Longwell 46% to 36%, with write-in candidate Lyndy Wells receiving 17% of the vote.

He said he has delivered or made strides on all of his 2019 campaign promises, although the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in priorities at the start of his term.

Those promises included increasing police funding, approving raises for firefighters, ethics reform and passing a nondiscrimination ordinance. He acknowledged some of those achievements, such as a new ethics policy that limits gifts to elected officials for the first time in the city’s history, will require further work.

“There is nothing we campaigned on that we didn’t either get done or make significant gains,” Whipple said. “I need another term so I can solve homelessness in this community and so I can make our transportation a modern transportation system. That takes longer than four years. We’re already laying down the groundwork for that.”

Whipple said he has also picked up new priorities while in office, including increasing police oversight, paving unpaved streets, and decriminalizing marijuana and fentanyl test strips.

“My goal is to attack these big issues that other people have failed at. I know we can get it done, because we have already done some things that people said were impossible.”

Jared Cerullo

Position: Freelance reporter

Past: Wichita City Council (appointed), District Advisory Board, TV news reporter

Education: Wichita State University

Voter registration: Republican

Cerullo was appointed to fill a vacancy on the City Council and then narrowly lost an election bid to Democrat Mike Hoheisel. He has emerged as a vocal critic of Whipple.

Cerullo, the PA announcer for the Wichita Wings professional soccer team, told fans at a game earlier this year that he had started a petition drive to get his name on the ballot. Prospective mayoral candidates must pay $70 in filing fees or collect 100 signatures.

“I think it serves as a better statement,” Cerullo said of the petition drive. “Rather than just walk into the election commissioner’s office and pay the fee, to turn in a petition with hundreds of signatures showing some semblance of support out there right off the bat.”

He submitted the petition and secured a spot on the August primary ballot a week before the filing deadline.

Cerullo said he would like to see the city increase funding for the Wichita Fire Department. He’s also been an outspoken advocate for improving Wichita’s public transportation system.

As a council member, Cerullo worked with the Kansas Human Rights Commission and Equality Kansas to finalize the wording of Wichita’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which passed after contentious community engagement sessions and a 90-day delay.

Cerullo said he’s also proud of his role in plans for a new patrol east substation for the Wichita Police Department. He said it will be up to the next mayor to improve relations between police and City Hall.

“We have to repair the relationship between the mayor’s office and the police department,” he said.

Shelia M. Davis

Position: Student, volunteer caregiver

Past: Business card design

Education: Scott Community College (Iowa)

Voter registration: Republican

Davis is a volunteer caregiver and student at Butler Community College, where she is pursuing medical administrative assistant certification.

She ran for alderman and school board positions in Iowa before moving to Wichita in 2011, and said improving homeless services would be her top priority as mayor.

“I think we should have a 24-hour homeless center,” Davis said.

“I just think they should be inside 24 hours, not walking the streets all day, and their services should all be in one spot.”

A regular volunteer, Davis said she is best positioned of any candidate to oversee the construction and operation of a non-congregate shelter and navigation center, which the city’s capital improvement plan calls for funding at a cost of $500,000 starting in 2025.

Davis said she would also advocate for marijuana legalization and shortening school weeks to four days.

Bryan Frye

Position: Wichita City Council, Kansas Chamber of Commerce senior director of investor relations

Past: District Advisory Board, TV news marketing

Education: Wichita State University

Voter registration: Republican

Frye has served on the City Council for seven years and isn’t eligible to run again for the District 5 seat. He has already been endorsed by former Mayor Jeff Longwell, who attended his campaign kickoff.

“Wichita can be that next leading city, full of vibrancy and possibility. And we’ll do it with compassion, fairness, grit and forward thinking that has all neighborhoods represented,” Frye told supporters.

Frye said one major point of pride from his tenure on the council has been seeing through plans to construct the new water treatment facility in northwest Wichita. It is the largest infrastructure project in city history.

Frye said it will be up to the next mayor to lead on key issues affecting the community over the next four years.

“We’re always going to have challenges, right?” Frye said. “We know that there are serious issues with homelessness, affordable housing, talent supply, law enforcement recruitment — these are all big things that we need to continue to stay focused on.”

Anthony Gallardo

Position: Service desk engineer at Finance of America

Past: Business analyst

Education: University of California Irvine

Voter registration: Democratic

Originally from southern California, Gallardo moved to Wichita last year. The 28-year-old who works remotely as a service desk engineer at Finance for America immediately started attending his south Wichita district advisory board meetings.

“My involvement, I think it’s exponential compared to just the average Wichita resident,” Gallardo said. “Most people probably just move here, go to work, get somewhere to live, and although I might not be familiar with the culture as much from not living here as long, I am more familiar with the politics from being involved with my district advisory board and going to City Council meetings and seeing exactly what they’re talking about.”

Gallardo, a Democrat, volunteered with several campaigns in California and was a senator in UC Irvine’s student government.

He said two main objectives as mayor would be advocating for the legalization of cannabis and updating liquor laws to extend Sunday sales hours and allow hard liquor to be sold in grocery stores. Possession of marijuana is illegal in Kansas, and alcohol is regulated at the state level.

“As a mayor, I would be able to lobby these Kansas legislators and let them know, ‘Hey, Wichitans stand for legalization of cannabis and for better liquor licensing laws,’” he said.

To promote civic engagement, Gallardo said he would like to create a mechanism that allows people watching City Council YouTube livestreams to share their comments with council members, as they could if they attended the meeting in person. He said the city’s website could also do a better job making government accessible.

Thomas Kane

Position: Whitefish Media founder, private detective

Past: SEO marketing at GoDaddy.com

Education: Chaparral High School

Voter registration: Independent

Kane’s media company builds websites for clients. The 41-year-old also works as a private investigator and runs an online directory of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana dispensaries.

Although Kansas’ marijuana laws are regulated at the state level, Kane said he would use his position as mayor to advance the cause of legalization for medical and recreational use.

“I realize that I can’t just lay some hammer down and say OK, let’s legalize marijuana,” Kane said. “But what I can do is I can help the fire burn a little brighter so it gets more attention.”

He said the additional tax revenue associated with legalization would help Wichita modernize downtown and support compassionate solutions for ending homelessness.

“Bottom line, I want to clean up downtown and make it a place that people actually want to visit,” Kane said. “Like downtown Oklahoma City. I want to turn it into what Oklahoma City has become. It is like a city of the future.”

Kane said his entrepreneurial experience has prepared him to enter the political sphere.

“I’ve never been in a political position. However, I read a lot, and I’ve read a lot of political books and I’ve dealt with the politics of workplaces,” Kane said.

“I’m one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen.”

Celeste Racette

Position: Save Century II founder

Past: Fraud investigator, bank examiner

Education: University of Kansas, Wichita State University

Voter registration: Unaffiliated

When she announced her campaign, Racette promised supporters she would apply the financial acumen she honed as a fraud investigator to the city budget.

“We want more of a voice in city government and how finances are handled,” Racette said. “That’s why I’m running for mayor — to be the watchdog of our finances and to provide financial oversight to public over private interests, to enhance public safety and to save Century II.”

Racette, whose father served on the City Council in the 1960s, organized a petition drive to block a $1 billion development plan that called for the demolition of Century II and the former downtown library.

The city sued Racette and the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that voters lack the specialized knowledge to make administrative decisions about buildings for City Hall. The City Council passed a policy requiring a nonbinding vote before either building can be torn down.

Racette said that doesn’t go far enough to ensure the public decides the future of the buildings. She successfully listed Century II and the library building on the Register of Historic Kansas Places.

Racette has filed Kansas Open Records Act requests and scrutinized a lack of clarity and errors in the city’s financial disclosures. She has expressed frustration with the limited amount of useful information she receives when she asks questions about city money, especially about incentives given to developers.

“I’m tired of looking over the fence, asking permission for information,” Racette told The Eagle. “I know now that the city will always have the power to shut me down, so why not try to get inside?”

Julie Rose Stroud

Position: Environmental health manager

Past: City of Wichita drinking water laboratory technician, mail carrier

Education: Wichita State University

Voter registration: Unaffiliated

Stroud is a 32-year-old environmental health manager at the Evonik chemical plant in Haysville who previously worked as a lab technician testing Wichita’s drinking water.

Stroud, who also produces and uploads her music to Youtube and has published a collection of poems and photography, has lived in Wichita her whole life. She said she would bring a unique outlook to city government.

“I’ve worked fast food, retail. I’ve been a custodian. I know what it’s like to be at the bottom of the totem pole,” Stroud said.

She said she’s encouraged by the progress being made on the $500 million Northwest Water Treatment Facility but would prefer to see the city expand its water treatment facilities when construction is complete, noting that a single water plant for a city as large as Wichita remains a liability in case of a catastrophe.

“If there was anything that were to take place at a single water treatment facility in terms of quality, I ask you, where would we get our water from? Having a backup is always a good idea.”

Stroud said addressing mental health issues and homelessness in the community would also be high priorities for her as mayor.

“In general, I feel that all ideas, all voices should be heard,” Stroud said.

Lily Wu

Position: Former television news reporter

Past: KWCH, KAKE

Education: University of Hong Kong, Wichita State

Voter registration: Libertarian

Wu, who has worked as an on-air reporter in Wichita since 2010, resigned on March 1 before officially launching her campaign the first week of April with an event that roughly 300 people attended.

“People are going to start noticing there’s something very unique about our campaign,” Wu said to supporters. “You can see it in this room. My support comes from a very diverse group of people from all walks of life and every corner of our city. We all have one thing in common. We all love Wichita.”

Sedgwick County Commission Chair Pete Meitzner, who previously told The Eagle he was considering a run for mayor, spoke on Wu’s behalf at the kickoff event. He said she earned his support after a sit-down conversation.

“As a reporter for 12 years, my first responsibility has always been to listen. Leadership requires listening,” Wu told The Eagle.

“I believe Wichita deserves an outsider with a new perspective focused on results over politics.”

Wu, who regularly reported on the Wichita Police Department, made the jump from KAKE News to KWCH, Channel 12 in 2020.

This story was originally published January 22, 2023 at 5:30 AM.