Who’s backing the candidates running for KCK mayor? See how donations stack up
.png "Rose Mulvany Henry (left) and Christal Watson (right) won Tuesday’s primary election and will compete in the November general election to become the next mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas.")
It appears Rose Mulvany Henry has forged profitable connections among local unions and other influential players in the Kansas City area.
As of late July, the top vote-getter in Kansas City, Kansas’s mayoral primary race had also outpaced her general election competition in fundraising by about $20,000.
Mulvany Henry, attorney and member of the Board of Public Utilities, has raised at least $47,385 in donations for her campaign and personally contributed almost $12,000, according to the county’s most recent campaign finance reports.
Christal Watson, who leads the KCK school district’s foundation and who will join Mulvany Henry in the general election, has raised at least $27,495.
Candidates running for the position of Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK, as well as a string of other public races, reported on July 28 the total amounts in campaign donations they received between Jan. 1 and July 24. They will have to report additional contributions for given reporting periods on Oct. 27 and Jan. 10, according to the county’s election office.
Between Mulvany Henry and Watson, the top two candidates raked in a combined $74,880 going into the primary election. Voters in early November will decide who of the two will replace outgoing Mayor Tyrone Garner and be the second woman to lead the Unified Government. Both have discussed finding property tax relief for residents and uplifting local businesses to expand Wyandotte’s economy while on the campaign trail.
Garner, whose term expires at the end of the year, announced late last year that he would not be seeking re-election.
Fellow mayoral candidates Tom Burroughs, Mark Gilstrap, Gwendolyn S. Thomas and Janice Witt did not fall in the top-two spots among voters during the primary, meaning their time on the campaign trail ended then and there.
Burroughs, the outgoing District 2 at-large commissioner, raised $29,885 in contributions during the most recent reporting period. He already had $1,250 on hand from the previous collection period, reported $850 in in-kind contributions and had an added $6,000 to his total contributions at the last minute, according to his campaign finance reports.
Gilstrap, Thomas and Witt each filed affidavits with the county saying they didn’t plan to raise or spend more than $1,000 on their respective campaigns. The affidavit exempted them from filing additional documentation with the county.
Big donors
Mulvany Henry, who joined the candidate pool back in May, received several donations valued at $2,000 throughout her campaign leading up to the primary election.
Contributions in the amount of $2,000, the maximum amount Mulvany Henry received in a single contribution, totaled up to at least $14,000 of her total earnings.
The following organizations made those top contributions:
*2120 Capital, LLC., based in Mission Woods;
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local #124;
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local #53;
UAW Region 4 Midwest States;
Lindsay Bowen of Fairway, Kansas;
Matthew Bowen in Kansas City, Missouri;
Matt Bowen in Fairway, Kansas;
Rebecca Bowen in Kansas City, Missouri;
Bowen Construction Company in Kansas City, Missouri;
Bowen Investment Holdings;
and Superior Bowen Asphalt Co., LLC.
The Bowens, a Kansas City-area family with ties to the asphalt and construction industries, are longtime friends of Mulvany Henry’s family, she told The Star.
Mulvany Henry also earned support from political action committees tied to the following organizations: International Association of Fire Fighters Local #64; Laborers Local Union #1290; the Missouri and Kansas Laborers; and the Way Back PAC in Sheridan, Wyoming.
Watson, Burroughs
Watson’s reports show that the highest amount in a single contribution she received was $500, although she personally contributed $6,450 to her campaign with the highest donation amount from herself being $4,300.
Almost 20 people made $500 contributions during the most recent reporting period, according to her report.
Burroughs’s donors comprised real estate investment, holdings and development organizations and business development investors, among other organizations. His top contributors gave him five donations valued at $2,000 and five valued at $1,000, according to his report.
Burroughs’s report included a $100 donation to his local neighborhood watch organization, which he said he has done with every campaign he’s participated in for several years. He said the organization does not do any campaigning on his behalf in return. *Note: This story was corrected on Oct. 30 to reflect that 2120 Capital, LLC was the name of the Mission Woods-based organization that donated $2,000 to Rose Mulvany Herny’s campaign.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 6:17 AM.
