Who raised and spent the most money in Wichita school board races?

Yard signs, mailers, campaign text messages and unsolicited ballot applications are not cheap. Wichita school board candidates have spent tens of thousands of dollars on them over the past three months as they hustle for votes in the upcoming election.

Wichita school board incumbent Hazel Stabler raised the most campaign cash for the general election after her District 6 opponent, Amy Warren, raised the most money during the primary fundraising cycle.

And incumbent Kathy Bond spent the most campaign cash after losing by one vote in a five-person primary to challenger Amy Jensen in District 5.

Here is a list of candidates and what they raised and spent:

• Hazel Stabler, District 6, raised $12,337 and spent $7,057. She ended the fundraising period with $8,133 on hand.
• Kathy Bond, District 5, raised $11,342 and spent $12,935 — dipping into the $2,825 she had on hand from the primary.
• Amy Warren, District 6, raised $11,178 and spent $9,575 with more than $10,000 cash on hand as of Oct. 24.
• Diane Albert, District 1, raised $11,087 and spent $9,984 with $6,879 cash on hand.
• Brent Davis, District 2, raised $10,292 and spent $11,354, leaving nearly $3,000 cash on hand.
• Amy Jensen, District 5, raised $7,780 and spent $7,635 with almost $5,000 on hand.
• Julie Hedrick, District 2, raised $2,300 and spent $8,835, dipping into her $7,305 cash on hand to start the fundraising period.
• Mackenzi Truelove, District 1, raised $1,145.31 and spent $835, leaving $310 on hand.

Two candidates — Stabler and District 2 challenger Valerie Most — did not file reports by Monday’s deadline. Most filed an affidavit of exemption, meaning she won’t have to file expenditure reports unless she exceeds $1,000 in contribution; Stabler filed her report Tuesday afternoon.

Who donated to Wichita school board candidates?

The late campaign push signifies the political stakes of this year’s nonpartisan school board race, even though candidates’ party affiliations won’t appear on the ballot.

A slate of candidates put forth by the Republican Party in 2021 for their opposition to COVID-19 restrictions in schools are back on the ballot this year. Those candidates are Diane Albert, Kathy Bond, Brent Davis and Hazel Stabler. All but Davis, who proposed conducting COVID experiments on the district’s students during that campaign, are now seeking a second term. Davis is back on the ticket this year to try again to win a seat on the board.

The four share many of the same campaign donors, including Keep Kansas Red PAC, a political action committee tied to Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, and City Elders, a group that seeks to place candidates on school boards to “stand and guard against school boards” with “inclusivity agendas against our children,” “anti-American values, critical race theory, socialism, gender confusion, inclusivity and so much more.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, Hedrick, Jensen and Warren appear to have the backing of moderates and Democratic-leaning groups, taking in money from labor unions and political action committees. All three got donations from the Wichita-Hutchinson Labor Federation. Jensen and Warren received money from the KS AFL-CIO Cope Fund, Sedgwick County Democratic Women PAC and Wichita Realtors PAC.

While Warren and Stabler had the most cash available to spend ($19,985.77 for Warren and $15,189.76 for Stabler), Bond actually spent the most between July 25 and Oct. 23, the dates covered by the filings.

Stabler’s campaign finance report includes several past and present Republican elected officials, from lobbyist and former Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell to current Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Ryan Baty and Wichita City Council member Dalton Glasscock. She also received support from several donors known for giving to conservative candidates and causes: Steve Clark and Mayor Lily Wu’s longtime boyfriend Stephen Clark II, Colby Sandlian and Johnny Stevens.

Like all the Republican candidates in the school board race, Stabler spent a large portion of her campaign funding on political ads through Hexcode Marketing, a Wichita-based company.

Bond spent her money on multiple rounds of mailers and advance-ballot applications. The spending blitz by Bond comes amid a challenge by Jensen, a longtime English teacher in neighboring Clearwater and Maize school districts.

Bond, a Republican who collected just under $3,800 during the five-candidate primary, received a boost in funding for the general election from businesses associated with local developers who also gave to other conservative candidates. She also received contributions from Baty, Estes and former U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Goddard Republican.

Warren received donations from Margalee Wright, the first woman to serve as Wichita’s mayor; Democratic state Sen. Mary Ware; Democratic state Rep. John Carmichael; former Wichita City Council member Cindy Claycomb; and Jon Rolph, a local restaurateur and former member of the Kansas Board of Regents. She also received an in-kind contribution from the Kansas Democratic Party for access to the party’s voter database.

Jensen received contributions from Lamont Anderson, Country Acres neighborhood association president; local business owner Sheryl Wohlford; and several retired teachers.

Jensen and Warren both spent most of their money on yard signs, postage and informational cards to hand out to voters. Warren spent more money on mailers.

This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Who raised and spent the most money in Wichita school board races?."