Who is funding the GOP candidates’ campaigns for Sedgwick County judge?

The four Republicans vying to replace retiring Sedgwick County District Judge Patrick Walters have dropped tens of thousands of dollars of their own money on the primary campaign, Kansas campaign finance records show.

No Democratic candidate filed to run, meaning the new 18th Judicial District Division 14 judge will likely be chosen by Republican voters on Aug. 6.

Three of the four GOP candidates — Jarrod Kieffer, Clark V. Owens II and Joshua Wright — paid for the majority of their campaigns using their own money they loaned to their campaigns.

Jacqueline Kelly, who loaned her campaign more than $5,000, received the most campaign donations and is the only candidate in the race who accepted donations from businesses or nonprofit organizations.

But Kelly did not raise or spend the most money on the contest between Jan. 1 and July 25, campaign finance filings show.

Here’s a look at the candidates’ campaign finances, in order of who raised and spent the most:

Jarrod Kieffer

Kieffer, a private-practice lawyer from Bel Aire who specializes in property taxes, loaned his campaign $45,597 and received $5,644 from individual donors from Jan. 1 to July 25. Campaign finance reports show he spent more than $53,000 between January 1 and July 25.

Those figures include a $15,000 check Kieffer gave his campaign on March 29. He spent an additional $30,597.20 of his own money on campaign activities — such as billboard advertisements, brochures, voter lists, yard signs and T-shirts — which he listed in his reports as “in-kind contributions.”

Kieffer did not accept any campaign funds from businesses. His largest donations came from James Long, a Friends University professor; Daniel Giroux, an attorney; Tyler Dehn, a construction manager for Wildcat Construction; and Arnold Klein, a general contractor at Klein Construction. Each gave the maximum $500. Wichita City Council member JV Johnston gave $200 to Kieffer’s campaign.

Kieffer ended the fundraising cycle with $13,088.33 cash on hand.

Jacqueline Kelly

Kelly, a Wichita Republican and city attorney for Derby, raised $27,724 — including $5,100 of her personal funds — and spent $17,117.

Some of her campaign materials said they were paid for by the Kansas Republican Party. But her campaign paid the state party $9,086 to send mailers on her behalf, records show.

Kelly accepted the most money from businesses and had the most individual contributors of the candidates. She accepted maximum $500 contributions from 17 donors, including former Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell; local business owners Rodney Steven, Jon and Lauren Rolph, and Ben Hutton; and Culture Shield Action, the political arm of the anti-abortion Christian-right organization run by Donna Lippoldt, who has said she wants to reshape the judiciary in Kansas to ban abortion.

Kelly ended the fundraising period with $10,606.14 cash on hand.

Clark V. Owens

Owens, a Wichita Republican and former Sedgwick County district attorney and district judge, raised $12,400 — including a $10,000 loan from himself — and spent $3,181.

He did not accept donations from businesses. The individuals who donated the maximum amount to his campaign were real estate investors Brad Smith and Cathrine Smith and lawyers Charles O’Hara and Henry Blase.

He ended the period with $9,218.63 cash on hand.

Joshua Wright

Joshua Wright, a public defender in Reno County who lives in Bel Aire, raised $9,628.51 — including $6,473.35 he loaned the campaign — and spent $9,526.41.

Wright did not take donations from businesses. His maximum $500 donors included family members and Clearwater retirees James and Debbie Charles.

He ended the period with $102.10 cash on hand.

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