Here’s who will face off in November in race for western Sedgwick County Commission seat

Western Sedgwick County’s next commissioner will be either Democrat Celeste Racette or Republican Stephanie Wise.

Racette scored 76% of the vote over AlmaAnn Jones in the Democratic District 3 race. Wise led former Wichita City Council member Greg Ferris by 1,004 votes with all precincts reporting Tuesday night. Alan Reichert finished a distant third with 13% of the vote to Ferris’ 38% and Wise’s 49%.

“It’s over,” Ferris conceded after examining the vote total he would have to make up in provisional and late-arriving mail ballots to overtake Wise.

Wise struck a triumphant tone from behind the lectern at her Eberly Farms watch party in west Wichita.

“District 3 said no. We said no to backdoor deals. We said no to Michael O’Donnell 2.0,” Wise said to uproarious applause. “We said yes to a conservative Republican who is committed to serving District 3 with integrity, honesty and goodwill — looking out for everybody and not just special interests, not just specific people or developments.”

Wise promised to work to decrease property taxes, protect property rights and promote limited government and individual liberties.

Racette said she plans to campaign on “integrity and fiscal responsibility.” She’s hoping the coalition of support she mobilized through the Save Century II movement she founded will give her cross-party appeal.

Racette said Wise has a disadvantage in the race in a couple of ways. Both concern her plans to remain a commercial real estate broker with Street Commercial if elected to the commission. Racette said if she’s elected, that won’t be her plan.

“I will work full time [on the commission] so I can focus 100% on the constituents,” she said.

Racette, a former chief internal auditor for a bank and bank examiner with the FDIC, said she thinks it’s also an ethical issue that Wise plans to continue working with business owners at her day job.

“She doesn’t understand conflict of interest. And I know the difference,” Racette said.

Wise previously told The Eagle she finds it hard to imagine that her public and private work could present a conflict of interests.

“If there was some monetary benefit to me, I would be ready and willing to answer those questions,” Wise said. “But from an experience standpoint, I think that people will want me behind those [county real estate] decisions . . . Who would be better than someone who does that for a living to help guide those decisions?”

In her speech, Wise promised to work to decrease property taxes, protect property rights and promote limited government and individual liberties.

“Now, as Republicans, we unite and we go and take this seat in November,” Wise said.

Divisive Republican primary

Uniting may be easier said than done after a contentious primary season. Wichita school board member Kathy Bond and other attendees at Wise’s party told The Eagle they were still angry about attack ads from an out-of-state PAC depicting Wise as a puppet for Joe Biden and in league with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. Bond said she was glad to see Ferris fall short, barring a major comeback.

“Inside every one of us, there’s a part that wants to see the bad guy lose. And tonight, we did,” Bond said.

Reflecting on the primary fight after his loss, Ferris said he wouldn’t have done anything differently.

“I wish whoever was behind those PACs would have done something differently and stayed the heck out of the race,” he said.

A Wisconsin-based PAC — Sedgwick County Conservatives PAC — raised $25,000 to help Ferris win over voters. He said he doesn’t know who is behind the PAC, but he thinks whoever it is helped turn voters against him in the end because of what they said about Wise.

“They sent some negative stuff out about her, and that got them all fired up,” Ferris said of Wise’s supporters. “They felt like they had to go negative.”

When negative mailers started going out, Ferris said, “The truth of the matter is people, when they got that, thought I sent it. They thought . . . I was going negative on this poor girl.”

He said he didn’t appreciate the negativity that then came back his way.

“I don’t know if you read the stuff she said about me,” Ferris said. “I don’t think you’d say I’m corrupt, sleazy, a liar. She put that in writing and sent it out. . . . She attacked my character.”

County Commissioner Pete Meitzner, who attended Wise’s watch party, conceded that there’s “probably a little division” in the local Republican party that will have to be worked through before the general election.

Meitzner said recruiting a younger generation of leaders has proven to be a successful strategy for local conservatives.

“To get the Ryan Batys, Stephanie, even Lily Wu,” Meitzner said. “To get good people, young and ready to do it — that’s what we need in local government.”

Attack ads like those levied against Wise aren’t a productive approach, he said.

“To have a young person that’s pretty good get totally attacked, it’s just not right. Let her win or lose on her own [merit],” Meitzner said.

Other notable attendees at Wise’s watch party included County Commission Chair Ryan Baty, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter, former Goddard Mayor Hunter Larkin and Park City councilman Ben Sauceda. David Dennis, the retiring two-term commissioner, was not in attendance but has a Wise sign planted in his front yard.

Racette watched the results roll in from home with her husband, saying she wants to conserve her campaign funds for the lead-up to November. Racette has $5,557.48 in her campaign coffers compared to Wise’s $18,771.86.

Spending in the primary races

District 3 is the largest County Commission district in size with more rural land than most. It includes much of west Wichita, as well as Andale, Bentley, Cheney, Colwich, Garden Plain, Goddard, Mount Hope and Viola.

The district has voted solidly Republican going back to 2000, with Dennis winning his 2020 and 2016 races over Democrats by 31% and 28%, respectively. Sedgwick County election records show that 51% of registered voters in District 3 are Republicans, 28% are unaffiliated and 20% are Democrats.

As the governing body for Sedgwick County, commissioners are responsible for setting policy direction and approving a budget for vital services such as EMS, 911, Comcare, corrections and the sheriff’s office. They also oversee Fire District 1 and serve as the board of health, the board of canvassers of elections, and the hearing panel on tax appeals. Commissioners serve four-year terms and collect a base salary of $101,527 a year.

On the Republican side, Wise received $50,774.53 in donations and spent $41,583.41 between January and July. Ferris raised $33,099.58, spent $27,214.31 and was the beneficiary of $81,917 of spending from two out-of-state PACs promoting his candidacy and attacking Wise as insufficiently conservative. Reichert raised $3,900 and spent $3,184.94.

Racette raised $17,056 and spent $11,498.52, and Jones raised $2,445 and spent $1,098.63. The most contentious moment in the Democratic contest came shortly after the filing deadline in June when someone created a satirical Facebook page impersonating Racette and interacting with other users. That page, which Jones disavowed, has not posted or shared any content since June 17.

District 3 is one of two County Commission districts that will be on the ballot in November. Democratic incumbent Sarah Lopez and Republican former Wichita City Council member Jeff Blubaugh are running unopposed in their respective primaries to represent Southern Sedgwick County’s District 2. Lopez is currently the only Democrat on the five-member governing body.

This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 7:34 PM.