Here’s what you missed from Kansas City-area elections
The results from more than 50 races across the Kansas City metro area are in.
After a full day of voting in many races in Johnson and Wyandotte counties — and just a couple of ballot issues on the Missouri side — we now know who and what won.
Here’s a list of the winners and losers from contested races in Tuesday’s voting and the margins between them, based on unofficial results posted Tuesday.
Final results will be certified in the coming weeks, which may change vote totals by small amounts.
Wyandotte County government elections
- Christal Watson defeated Rose Mulvany Henry to become the mayor and CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. Watson, the first Black woman to lead the county, won with 54% of the votes.
- Daniel Soptic was reelected as the Wyandotte County sheriff, beating Celisha Towers with 63% of the votes.
- Newcomers Jermaine Howard, Carlos Pacheco III and Andrew Kump, and incumbents Andrew Davis and Chuck Stites will serve on the board leading the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. They defeated Philip Lopez, Lisa Walker Yeager, LaVert A. Murray and Jacob Handy.
- Newcomers Gary Bradley-Lopez and Chase Cook and incumbent David Haley won spots on the Wyandotte County Board of Public Utilities. They beat Lisa Walker Yeager, David Alvey and Neal Palmer.
Jackson County assessor question
The only countywide vote in the metro, a ballot question asked Jackson County voters if the property tax assessor should be elected instead of appointed. Amid years of fury over rising property values, voters approved the ballot measure with a resounding 88% of ballots cast.
Wyandotte County school board elections
- In Bonner Springs, Kimberly Beets, Bonnie Mejean and Ashley Razak took school board seats, defeating John A. McCaughrean. Mejean will be new to the board.
- The Kansas City, Kansas, School board will add newcomers Joycelyn Strickland-Egans and Pamela Penn-Hicks, while keeping incumbent Wanda Brownlee Paige. Josh Young and Sheyvette Dinkens did not get enough votes.
- The Piper School District picked Melanie Bakarich, Patty Jurich and Julian A. Wells (the only incumbent and third-highest vote-getter) as their board members. Mark Gilstrap, Scott Grause and Alexander Morales all fell short.
- In the Turner School District, newcomer Kay Stone got the most votes, followed by Steve Russell and Joy D. Beery. Jeff Davidson did not get enough votes.
- For the Kansas City, Kansas, Community College Board of Trustees, Alex Sanchez appeared set to win the race for an unexpired term, defeating Jammie A. Johnson and incumbent Mary T. Ricketts. Also joining the board: incumbent Linda Hoskins Sutton and newcomers Joe Caiharr and Geoffrey Kump. Incumbent Brad Isnard fell into last place.
Independence school week question
In a hotly debated issue, Independence voters were asked about the school district’s four-day school week and whether voters wanted the school board to have the ability to decide schools’ schedule for the next decade. In a show of support for the nontraditional schedule, 62% of voters granted the school board that power.
Johnson County mayoral elections
- De Soto Mayor Rick Walker narrowly defeated a challenge from Robert Daniels with 50.3% of the vote.
- The Merriam mayoral race went to incumbent Bob Pape, who earned 76% of the vote over Billy Croan.
- Andrew Weed appears set to be the next Mission Hills mayor, winning 56% of the vote and defeating Braden Perry.
- Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog handily defeated a challenge from Faris Farassati with 71% of the vote.
- The Spring Hill mayor’s race is still up in the air because it turned into a write-in campaign after filed candidate Kristin Feeback said she would not be able to take the job. Specifics of write-in votes were not released Tuesday.
Johnson County city council elections
- Two at-large seats on the De Soto City Council went to Joe Sabo and Zack Bradley. James Doscher and Mark A. Gulley Jr. failed to secure a seat.
- On the Fairway City Council, Emily Snyder won Ward 2 with 61% of the vote, James Hafner won Ward 3 with 59% and incumbent Tanya Keys took Ward 4 with 79%. Ward 2 incumbent Dan Bailey was ousted, and Bill Stafford and Kiel Corkran lost in Wards 3 and 4, respectively.
- In Gardner, newcomer Kelly Johnson appeared to secure an at-large spot on the city council, but the winner of the second seat appeared too close to call Tuesday night. Incumbents Mark Baldwin and Steve Shute were separated by just three votes. Dawn Kirtley and John Snyder fell further behind in vote counts.
- Leawood City Council will gain new members in Matt Peppes (Ward 1 with 91% of the vote over Sarah Meuli) and Rachel Rubin (Ward 3 with 57% over Mitch Lohr and Daniel Taylor). Wards 2 and 4 were unopposed and went to incumbents.
- In Ward 1 of Lenexa City Council, John Michael Handley defeated Joe Shull with 55% of the vote. In Ward 2, Bill Nicks defeated Nicole Wasson with 55%. Ward 3 went to Avery Bell, who defeated Corey Hunt with 69%. Ward 4 was uncontested for the incumbent.
- Merriam City Council had just one contested race, in Ward 4, which was won by incumbent Reuben Cozmyer over Rob Arnold with 77%.
- On the Mission City Council, Sam Kamosa will be taking the Ward 2 seat after defeating Joe Donaway with 75% of the vote and Debbie Kring will keep her seat in Ward 3 with 54% of the vote over Kayla Schiller. Ward 1 and 4 were uncontested races won by incumbents.
- Olathe City Council will have two new faces in Jeff Creighton and Kevin Deneault. Creighton earned 54% of the vote for an at-large seat over former longtime Johnson County state lawmaker Rob Olson. Deneault earned an upset victory over incumbent Marge Vogt in Ward 4 with 57% of the vote. Ward 3 was uncontested and went to the incumbent.
- Overland Park City Council saw incumbent Melissa Cheatham win in Ward 2, Amy Scrivner win an open contest in Ward 3, newcomer Amy Amtrim defeat incumbent Scott Mosher in Ward 4 and Andrew Payne narrowly earn the open Ward 5 seat. Ward 1 and 6 were uncontested.
- Prairie Village City Council will see the return of two incumbents, Cole Robinson in Ward 1 and Ronald Nelson in Ward 2. All other candidates were newcomers after several members decided not to seek reelection. Shelby Bartelt won Ward 3 over Amy B. Aldrich, Nathan Vallette defeated Kelly Sullivan Angles in Ward 4, Betsy Lawrence triumphed over John Beeder in Ward 5 and Jim Sellers got more votes than Dan Prussing in Ward 6. All of the defeated candidates were backed by PV United, a group that had also supported the failed ballot measure in the city.
- In Shawnee, two incumbents were ousted, perhaps signaling an ideological trend in the city. Tony Gillette lost his seat in Ward 1 to Steele Reynolds, who got 61% of the vote, and Mike Kemmling was defeated by Eric Persson in Ward 2, who earned 63% of the vote. In open races, Morgan Rainey won over Dave Myrnes in Ward 3 with 55% of the vote, and Erin Aldridge got 62% of the vote over Lauren Stiffler.
- On the Spring Hill City Council, newcomer Ivan Delgado and incumbent Michael Grant appeared set to take full terms. James Savage was leading in the race for an unexpired term, but Rodolfo Arevalo, who ran for two city council seats then launched a write-in campaign for mayor, trailed Savage by just six votes, so the race was too close to call. Incumbent Brian Peel, incumbent Phillip J. Thron and newcomer Steven T. Boswell looked to be falling short of the needed votes.
- In Westwood, Stephanie Becker, Spencer Day and Jeff Harris were leading a six-way race for three seats, leaving James Spies, Jennifer Westlake and Greg Hirleman with a seat. Harris was the only incumbent after two current council members opted not to run again.
Prairie Village ballot question
The only ballot question in Johnson County, Prairie Village asked its voters if the city should abandon the mayor-council form of government. About 65% of voters said no, and the issue fails.
Johnson County school board elections
- In Blue Valley, District 5 incumbent Gina Knapp fended off challenger Steve Roberts, plus a last-minute write-in candidate, with 65% of the vote, while her fellow board member Jim McMullen was ousted by former superintendent David Benson, who earned 60% of the vote in District 6. District 4 was an unopposed race.
- The De Soto School Board will be joined by newcomer Lucy Rumsey DeWitt, who defeated Nancy Moneymaker, and rejoined by incumbents Calley Malloy and Brandi Jonasson after they won over Christian Amend and TJ Finan.
- The Gardner-Edgerton School Board saw the election of Julie Aldridge to a two-year term, defeating Matthew Harlow and Melissa Hershey. Lana Sutton was leading Sam Dominguez for one of the seats by just 33 votes Tuesday, and the fight between incumbent Greg Chapman and Keith Davenport was down to 12 ballots, with Davenport leading, so it is considered too close to call.
- The Olathe School Board had just one contested race, which was won by incumbent Julie Steele with 76% of the vote over Scott M. Enge.
- The Spring Hill School Board had some tight races Tuesday, but Autumn Coleman-Marconett, Steve Miller and Ted Beauchamp appeared to have commanding leads over incumbent Nicole Melius, Chris Olsen and incumbent Keith Ewing.
- The Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees found winners to its four seats in Dawn J. Rattan, Lee Cross, Chad Carroll and Geoff Holton, of whom Rattan and Cross are current board members. Incumbent Mark Hamill, as well as newcomers Carlton Abner, Kenneth Stokes and Jerry Charlton fell short in their bids for the board.
Water and drainage districts
- Jennifer Gunby earned a seat on the Johnson County WaterOne Board, defeating incumbent Bob Reese with 81% of the vote. The other two seats up for reelection were unopposed.
- Incumbents James “Bundy” Jenkins and David R. Morales, as well as newcomer Greg Rico, appeared to win spots with the Kaw Valley Drainage District, defeating incumbent Douglas E. Todd.
Did we miss anything? Questions about the results? Email kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 6:35 AM.
Eleanor Nash
The Kansas City Star
Chandler Boese
The Kansas City Star