Local election results in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, Kansas City

A variety of local elections were on the ballot for Kansas City area voters Tuesday.

Polls in Kansas and Missouri close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Major contests include city elections in Shawnee, which has an open mayoral race, and in Prairie Village, where incumbents face challengers focused on stopping multi-residential development.

Also on the ballot in Johnson County are races in all six of its school boards, including the Blue Valley District, where candidates are essentially split into two camps with competing viewpoints on diversity initiatives and school curriculum.

In Wyandotte County, the Unified Government Board of Commissioners will see at least three new members as candidates campaign for open seats and two sitting commissioners face challengers.

In the county’s public school boards, candidates include disgraced ex-state Rep. Aaron Coleman, who aims to once again become an elected official with a place in the Turner district.

Finally, in Kansas City, voters participating in the special election will decide whether to extend for another 10 years the collection of a ⅜-cent sales tax to pay for the city’s obligations in the regional Kansas City Area Transportation Authority public transit system.

Lenexa to have first new mayor in 20 years

Councilwoman Julie Sayers took the lead in the Lenexa mayoral race on Tuesday, where voters elected a new mayor for the first time in 20 years.

Sayers won 6,134 votes, followed by Councilman Joe Karlin, with 5,534. The winner will replace Mayor Michael Boehm, who was first elected in 2003.

In the council races, incumbents had mixed results as one council member won her reelection bid and another lost his.

Prairie Village City Council challengers make waves at polls

Prairie Village City Council hopefuls, backed by residents upset over how the city has tried to address a lack of affordable housing, did well overall in their council election bids.

In the city’s 2nd Ward, Councilwoman Inga Selders won 542 votes, defeating Mark Samuel, with 43 votes. PV United, a group opposed to the city’s affordable housing plans, supported write-in candidate Edward Boersma. There were 381 write-in votes as of Tuesday night.

In the 3rd Ward, incumbent Bonnie Limbird lost her seat. Newcomer Lori Sharp, whose husband is PV United’s attorney, won 751 votes, to Limbird’s 546.

And in the 4th Ward, Councilwoman Piper Reimer also lost her reelection bid.Tyler Agniel, another winner backed by PV United, won 842 votes, ahead of the incumbent’s 590 votes.

The 6th Ward race was too close to call, with incumbent Councilman Ian Graves winning 530 votes, only 14 votes ahead of Kelly Wyer, with 516 votes.

Clay County voters approve cellphone fee for 911 services

Clay County voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that adds a $1 monthly fee to cellphone bills to pay for 911 operations in Kansas City’s Northland.

Nearly 61% Clay County voters approved of the measure, with roughly 14,500 total ballots cast, according to unofficial results Tuesday night. Passage of Proposition A is meant to collect money earmarked solely for the county’s 911 emergency system.

Funds generated through the fee are to be audited annually. The passage also means a current fee placed on landline telephones will be phased out.

Voters oust incumbents in several Johnson County city races

Two Johnson County cities will see major changes after incumbents lost their reelection bids Tuesday night.

With all precincts counted, in Overland Park, three incumbent council members lost their races, replacing two strident opponents to economic incentives with political newcomers.

Incumbent Councilman Faris Farassati, 5th Ward, lost to challenger Inas Younis; Councilman Scott Hamblin, 6th Ward, lost his seat to former councilman Chris Newlin; and 3rd Ward challenger Richard Borlaza’s narrowly beat incumbent Thomas Carignan.

Just one incumbent, Holly Grummert, won reelection Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Shawnee, two incumbent council members lost their seats, and longtime Councilman Mike Kemmling lost to Mickey Sandifer, a former councilman, in the open-seat mayoral race.

Bonner Springs gets new mayor

Tom Stephens, a longtime Bonner Springs councilman, was selected Tuesday to serve as the next mayor in the western Wyandotte County city.

Stephens, a five-term councilman, defeated former council member Jordan Michael Tiner-Mackey by 572 votes in a race that totaled 874 cast ballots, according to unofficial results.

Stephens, who serves as council president, said he felt honored by voters’ faith in him.

“If you see me out and about, feel free to stop and let me know your thoughts, this is not my community, it’s OURS,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Wyandotte Countians oust BPU member amid rate hike controversy

Voters in Wyandotte County kicked one member off the Board of Utilities on Tuesday night amid controversy over a recent decision to raise water and electric rates.

Jeff Bryant, who has been the board’s District 3 member since 2011, was defeated by challenger Brett Parker, who served in the Kansas House for two terms. Parker came out on top by more than 400 votes in a race that totaled about 3,000 votes

Meanwhile, voters reelected BPU member Rose Mulvany Henry, who has served in the At‐Large Position 3 since 2019, by more than 3,000 votes in a race that totaled nearly 11,000 cast ballots.

The election came months after the board voted 4-2 to increase water and electric rates, prompting residents to rally against the decision. Bryant voted in favor of the increases; Henry voted against.

Progressive incumbents, newcomers lead school board race in Olathe

Progressive incumbents and newcomers were leading in the race for the Olathe school board as of 9 p.m. Tuesday as about half of the precincts had been counted, according to unofficial results in Johnson County.

For the at-large seat, newcomer Will Babbit, who has the endorsement of the teachers union, had 14,424 votes, ahead of conservative second-time candidate Jennifer Gilmore, with 10,778 votes. Gilmore recently won a lawsuit against school officials when a jury decided her First Amendment rights were violated when she was removed from a school board meeting.

Meanwhile, incumbent Stacey Yurkovich was in a strong lead with 15,276 votes, followed by Mark Wingren, with 7,495, and Dan Adera-Odhiambo, with 2,388 votes.

Kansas City voters approve bus tax, reject new county use tax

Kansas City voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot issue Tuesday extending for another 10 years a sales tax that supports the city’s bus system — but they roundly rejected a separate proposal for a new Jackson County use tax.

By a landslide 59% opposed, voters rejected a proposed new use tax on on-line purchases, which the Jackson County Legislature placed on the ballot over the objections of County Executive Frank White Jr..

Meanwhile, more than 73% of Kansas City voters approved extending the 3/8-cent sales tax that supports bus service within Kansas City’s boundaries.

Blue Valley moderates trounce conservatives on JoCo school board

With about half of the votes counted Tuesday night, moderate incumbents on the Blue Valley school board appeared headed for easy victory over a slate of conservative challengers. As of 9 p.m., two hours after polls closed, early unofficial results show incumbents in a strong lead.

Competing for the open at-large board seat, Clay Norkey, a Democrat, won 11,229 votes, while challenger Michael Huebner, part of a conservative slate, won 7,204 votes. In the northeast area of the district, incumbent Jan Kessinger won 11,128 votes, while challenger Christine Vasquez won 6,961.

For the northwestern seat, incumbent Patrick Hurley, who has served on the school board since 2015, won 10,637 votes, ahead of newcomer Trisha Hamilton with 7,312. In the southern portion of the district, incumbent Jodie Dietz won 11,328 votes, to Rachel Faagutu’s 6,210 and Amie Callahan’s 964 votes.

Like in other Johnson County districts, school board candidates were starkly divided on hot topic issues, including diversity initiatives and curriculum on gender and race. But that divide was most clear in Blue Valley, as the eight candidates running for the four nonpartisan school board seats divided themselves up into two clear factions.

Voters reshape Wyandotte County commission with three new faces

Voters on Tuesday reshaped Wyandotte County’s governing body, adding three new faces following open races and keeping on the two incumbents, according to unofficial results.

Evelyn Hill, a consultant, defeated former UG Commissioner Tarence Maddox in the race for the District 4 seat in eastern KCK, which was held by Harold Johnson, who did not seek reelection.

Bill Burns, a retired Wyandotte County District Court administrator, appeared to have defeated Anna Cole, a Strawberry Hill neighborhood leader and small business owner, in the race for District 2 by 105 votes.

In District 6, it appeared that Philip Lopez, who owns a tree trimming business, narrowly prevailed over Steve Neal, pastor of First Baptist Church of Turner. Lopez led by a margin of 20 votes, the closest of the contests Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

Voters also reelected At-Large District 1 Commissioner Melissa Bynum, who was first elected in 2015, over challenger Ricky Smith by more than 4,000 votes.

And in District 3, which includes the Rosedale and Argentine neighborhoods, Commissioner Christian Ramirez appeared to hold on to his seat against challenger Tina Medina. Ramirez got 554 votes to Medina’s 488.

Former KS lawmaker loses bid for WyCo school board

Aaron Coleman, a former Democratic state legislator with a history of abusive behavior toward women, lost his bid Tuesday for a spot on a Wyandotte County school board.

Voters’ decision to not elect Coleman, who was arrested twice while in office, to the Turner USD 202 Board of Education ends his quixotic search for a political comeback after he lost a primary election last year to remain in the Legislature.

Five candidates ran for the four at-large school board seats up for election, guaranteeing the top four vote-getters would join the board. Every candidate other than Coleman, including Wyandotte County Sheriff Daniel Soptic, was an incumbent.

Other incumbents winning seats on Turner’s board were Theresa Tillery, Becky Billigmeier and Bryan Fishbaugh. Unofficial results from Wyandotte County’s election office showed Coleman received 307 votes — 549 less than fourth-place board-member Fishbaugh.

Here are the other leading candidates in Wyandotte County school board races, according to unofficial results:

USD 203 Piper

Allison Armstrong - 1,387

Jeb Vader - 1,321

Larry Beashore - 1,286

Ashley Biondi - 1,241

Bonner Springs-Edwardsville

David Pierce - 777

Jennifer McConico - 739

Angie Thomas - 676

Christopher Russell - 642

USD 500 Kansas City

Randy Lopez - 3,200

Robert Milan, Jr. - 2,661

Valdenia Winn - 2,407

Yolanda Clark - 2,149