The most important name you won’t see on a Wichita ballot this fall | Commentary
On Tuesday, Wichita primary voters in City Council Districts III and VI went to the polls to choose candidates to advance to the general election in November. Even for an off-year primary with no other races on the ballot, turnout was dismal — less than 7% of eligible voters cast a ballot. Regardless, it’s the voters who show up that choose the winner, and this week they gave a slight edge to challengers Mike Hoheisel and Maggie Ballard, who will face off against incumbents Jared Cerullo and Cindy Claycomb this fall.
There was one person whose name didn’t appear on any ballot on Tuesday, but whose presence hung heavy over the entire election and will continue to loom through November — Mayor Brandon Whipple.
The mayor has been a polarizing figure in Wichita since the contentious and scandal-ridden election of 2019. Since taking office, Whipple has repeatedly battled with conservative opponents, including several of his colleagues on the council, as he has tried to advance a more progressive policy agenda that runs contrary to their conservative ideology and, at times, contravenes the priorities of City Manager Robert Layton.
The bitter exchanges that have repeatedly characterized council debates over issues such as mask mandates, the mayor’s request for a personal assistant, the revised city ethics policy, and, most recently, the proposed non-discrimination ordinance, have exposed a level of acrimony in city government that Wichitans have not witnessed for many years. Much of that public and vocal discord is directly attributable to the current composition of the City Council.
The magic number on the Wichita City Council is four. In recent history, as the council has tended to operate in a calm, pro-business, non-partisan manner, most votes have been unremarkable affairs, with most items approved to little fanfare by a 7-0 majority. However, as the last two years have made clear, city government can be steered on major issues with a bare majority of four members.
As it stands, Whipple and Vice Mayor Brandon Johnson form a reliable two-vote liberal bloc. All of the antics during meetings notwithstanding, they have been remarkably successful at assembling two additional votes from among their five colleagues on some important contested matters, but those coalitions have been fragile and unreliable. Victories by Ballard and Hoheisel in the fall would ensure the solid four-vote majority that has eluded the mayor until now. Their campaigns, run by the same group behind Whipple’s 2019 campaign, have highlighted the candidates’ alignment with Whipple on some of the biggest issues currently dividing the Council, especially the non-discrimination ordinance.
Wichita’s city government has been dominated by low-key, business-oriented conservative leaders for so long that many have come to take that style of governance for granted, but it is in no way mandated or pre-ordained. If Hoheisel and Ballard successfully unseat the incumbents, a new progressive boldness in city governance — and a more confrontational council posture vis-à-vis the city manager — are likely.
This should excite and energize progressives, but it should terrify conservatives. In recent months, however, right-wing activists have devoted enormous energy to attacking the more centrist incumbents facing reelection, weakening those candidates against their liberal challengers while putting zero effort behind any realistic, viable conservative alternatives.
Mayor Whipple’s name won’t appear on a ballot this November, but his agenda certainly will. Conservatives who have lambasted and threatened Claycomb and Cerullo for their moderation could very well succeed in getting them ousted from their seats. They won’t be happy with the ultimate results of their own actions.