Bonita Gooch, owner of The Community Voice, files to run against Rep. Ford Carr
Bonita Gooch, longtime owner and editor-in-chief of a newspaper serving African-American communities in Wichita and Kansas City, is running against incumbent state Rep. Ford Carr in the Democratic primary for Wichita’s 84th District.
The winner will likely take office in January. No Republican has filed to run in the district, which includes one of the state’s largest Black populations.
Carr, an engineer who has yet to face a challenger in a primary or general election, suggested in an interview with The Eagle that Gooch entered the race due to a “personal vendetta” against him for criticizing The Community Voice during a meeting of the House Select Investigating Committee in April of last year. The panel considered disciplining Carr based on complaints by Republican lawmakers but ultimately did not reprimand, censure or expel him.
Carr has said the committee investigation was an attempt by Republicans to punish him for calling out racism in the Legislature.
Gooch, a Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame inductee, filed to run at the filing deadline Monday. She did not return phone calls or emailed questions from The Eagle. In her announcement on her newspaper’s website she did not mention any grievances with Carr, saying the decision to run is “the next step in a lifetime of service and advocacy.”
“People deserve representatives who are accessible, responsive and focused on results,” she is quoted saying in The Community Voice story. “For nearly 30 years, I’ve had a front-row seat to government at every level. I’ve covered public policy, interviewed elected officials, followed the issues that matter most to families, and listened to the concerns of residents throughout our community. Those experiences have prepared me to serve.”
Gooch’s foray into politics follows in the footsteps of her father, aviation legend U.L. “Rip” Gooch, who served in the Kansas Senate and on the Wichita City Council.
Carr won his seat uncontested in 2022 after former Rep. Gail Finney withdrew from the race at the last minute. He was Finney’s handpicked replacement as she battled health issues that resulted in her death in August 2022. He ran unopposed in 2024.
Carr has been an outspoken voice of dissent in Topeka, drawing the ire of the Republican supermajority and publicly criticizing lawmakers within his own party. He also has clashed with other local officials over what he viewed as inaction on a groundwater contamination crisis within his district in northeast Wichita.
“I think clearly that the people know who it is that is fighting for the community,” Carr said. “I live in an extremely underserved district with underserved people in an underserved community, and you have to have the strength, fortitude and wherewithal to stand up in the face of opposition.”
The Carr-Gooch race is one of a relatively small number of primary contests in Kansas this year, with 42 House primaries statewide out of 250 available ballot spots for the two major political parties. Eight of those primaries — divided equally among Democrats and Republicans — most likely will serve as a stand-in for the general election because no one from the opposing party filed to run in November.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 4:35 AM with the headline "Bonita Gooch, owner of The Community Voice, files to run against Rep. Ford Carr."