Wyandotte County voters elect new mayor, sheriff, 2 new commissioners. Meet them here
Residents of Wyandotte County have cast their votes for mayor, five commission seats for the Unified Government, as well as a new sheriff.
Here are the results for the mayoral race, the commission seats and the sheriff.
UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY/KANSAS CITY, KANSAS MAYOR
Tyrone Garner defeated David Alvey, becoming the second straight challenger to defeat the incumbent mayor. Garner recorded 5,202 votes to Alvey’s 4,972. The 52-year-old Garner is a 32-year-veteran of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, retiring as deputy chief in 2019. He becomes the first Black mayor of Kansas City, Kansas.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
District 2 At-Large
Tom Burroughs was able to stave challenger Claudine Sanders, winning with 4,786 votes to Claudine Sanders’ 4,622. Burroughs was elected as commissioner in 2017 and is a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, where he has served since 1997.
District 1
Gayle E. Townsend was able to secure another term as commissioner, defeating Melvin Williams. Townsend recorded 947 votes and Williams got 796. Townsend is an attorney with a federal agency and attended the University of Pennsylvania for her undergraduate. She obtained her law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
District 5
Mike Kane defeated Eleanor Morales Clark with more than double the votes. Kane recorded 3,031 votes and Clark recorded 1,504. Kane has been a commissioner since 2005 and worked for General Motors for 35 years. He was appointed to the Kansas Human Rights Commission in 2013 by former Gov. Sam Brownback.
District 7
Chuck Stites defeated incumbent James F. Walters. Stites recorded 1,468 votes to Walters’ 1,009 votes. Stites served as a former police officer with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department for 23 years and he is a city council member from Edwardsville.
District 8
Anderw Davis was the second challenger to defeat an incumbent commissioner, defeated Jane W. Philbrook. Davis recorded 1,239 votes and Philbrook recorded 909. Davis is a graduate student at the University of Kansas where he’s studying Public Administration. He is originally from Chicago and co-founded the Engage WyCo Facebook page, which focuses on helping residents get involved civically.
WYANDOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF
After sheriff Don Ash announced he was retiring, voters elected a new Wyandotte County Sheriff for the first time since 2009. Dan Soptic defeated Celisha Towers, recording 9,229 votes to Towers’ 6,646. Soptic started his career as a Kansas City Park Ranger for the Unified Government in 2004. He was promoted to Captain with the Park Rangers in 2007. He has been a Lieutenant Colonel with the Sheriff’s Office since 202.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 7:49 PM.
