Pay attention to Sedgwick County Commission, local judicial races
Last week’s candidate filing deadline made it official: Voters can either endorse Sedgwick County government’s narrowing agenda, which is in step with County Commissioner Richard Ranzau’s view “that the common good is actually a myth.” Or they can stop it, by electing commissioners who will resume treating public health, quality of life, economic development, regional planning and cooperation as high priorities.
Republican voters in District 3 in western and northwest Sedgwick County and Wichita have the first chance to improve things, by choosing challenger David Dennis over two-term Commissioner Karl Peterjohn in the Aug. 2 primary. Peterjohn started the now-common practice of giving political speeches from the bench, going off the deep end last fall with an offensive anti-Muslim address complete with slide show of terrorists named Muhammad.
Dennis is well-prepared for the County Commission, as vice chairman of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, former Kansas State Board of Education chairman, a retired Air Force colonel and former data leader at Wichita North High School. He’s a conservative Republican who objects to how the commission has broken agreements, including with the Sedgwick County Zoo, and to what he sees as the “extreme agenda” evident in the county budget debate and otherwise.
Should Dennis fall short, Peterjohn likely will face another strong challenger in the Nov. 8 general election in Marcey Gregory, who has been Goddard’s mayor since 2007 and is gathering signatures to run as an independent candidate. That would be a rematch of 2008, when Peterjohn defeated then-Democrat Gregory by 4,000 votes.
The other key to rebalancing power on the commission is re-electing Democrat Tim Norton in south Sedgwick County’s District 2. Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita, is leaving the Legislature after one term to try to unseat Norton in November.
The commission cannot afford to lose Norton’s knowledge and advocacy of public health, children’s issues, transportation planning, corrections, workforce development, quality of life – issues on which Sedgwick County long led the way regionally, and can again.
Meanwhile, judging from the past two GOP primary turnouts, only about 15 percent of the 275,000 registered voters in the county will decide four contested races for the 18th Judicial District bench. That’s because the two incumbents and eight other candidates are all Republicans. Democrat Jefrey Weinman’s challenge of Republican Sheriff Jeff Easter is the only other contested race in the fall among five countywide offices and 20 total judicial seats on the ballot. (Newcomer Eric Williams is poised to claim a judgeship unopposed, succeeding Judge Harold Flaigle.)
Few but crucial, these Sedgwick County contests must not escape the attention of local voters.
This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 12:07 AM with the headline "Pay attention to Sedgwick County Commission, local judicial races."