Challenger Mark Dupree beats Wyandotte County prosecutor Jerome Gorman

A criminal defense attorney who has been preaching alongside his father for years ousted Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman on Tuesday.

In complete but unofficial returns, Mark Dupree won with 59 percent of the vote to Gorman’s 41 percent. No Republican filed.

“God told me to run this race so we can help Wyandotte County,” said Dupree, 34, a father of four young children.

Gorman, who had been district attorney since 2005, could not be reached for comment.

In Johnson County, where Sheriff Frank Denning decided earlier this year to retire after three terms, former deputy Calvin Hayden emerged from a three-way field, winning the Republican primary with 37 percent of the vote.

John Resman had 34 percent and Dennis L. Hammer 29 percent in complete but unofficial results. Both are also former deputies. No Democrat filed.

In Wyandotte County, Dupree watched for results with a crowd of supporters. He said he’s spent the past few months going door to door and talking to community organizations.

The goal, he said, was to share his vision.

“We will work on prevention as well as prosecution, be proactive rather than reactive,” said Dupree, who is an assistant pastor to his father, Alvin T. Dupree, at Grace Tabernacle church.

A key issue for Dupree is drug court for youths.

“We need to show young boys and girls in Wyandotte County that you can be lawyers, you can be judges, you can be a sheriff,” he said Tuesday evening. “If we expose them to the positive side of the justice system, they can prepare to take over as judges and lawyers other than defendants.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Challenger Mark Dupree beats Wyandotte County prosecutor Jerome Gorman."