Garner wins mayor’s contest

Tyrone Garner
David Alvey

Tyrone Garner was elected mayor over incumbent Mayor David Alvey on Tuesday night, by a margin of 309 votes.

The results will be unofficial until they are certified.

With 16,494 ballots cast, turnout was 18.47 percent of the registered voters.

Garner will become the first black mayor of Kansas City, Kansas.

Two Unified Government incumbent commissioners also did not win re-election.

Chuck Stites, an Edwardsville council member and retired police officer, defeated architect James F. Walters, 1,468 to 1,009 for UG Commission, 7th District.

Andrew Davis, a graduate student in government, defeated Dr. Jane W. Philbrook, 1,239 to 909 in the 8th District, UG Commission.

Wyandotte County will have a new sheriff, Daniel Soptic. Soptic received 9,229 votes to Celisha Towers’ 6,646.

Also, the BPU will have a new member in the at-large position 2, David Haley. Haley won, 7,957 over Mark Gilstrap, 5,810. Incumbent Ryan Eidson lost to Gilstrap in the primary.

For the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education, the top three vote-getters were Maxine Drew, 5,139; Wanda Brownlee Paige, 4,959; and Rachel Henderson, 4,652.

The top three vote-getters for the Piper school board were John Bakarich III, 1,439; Desiree L. Fergus, 1,175; and Julian A. Wells, 983.

For the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School Board, the top three were Jeff Tinberg, 967; Kimberly Beets, 914; and Tiffany Sanders, 803.

In other UG Commission positions, incumbent Tom Burroughs won re-election by a vote of 7,637 to Claudine Sanders’ 7,232; incumbent Gayle Townsend won re-election by a vote of 947 to Melvin Williams’ 796; and incumbent Mike Kane won with a vote of 3,031 to Eleanor Morales Clark’s 1,504.

For the BPU member At-Large, Position 1, incumbent Mary Gonzales received 8,499 votes to Gwendolyn Bass’s 5,103 votes.

Incumbent Thomas W. Groneman received 3,434 votes to Brian Matlock’s 2,386 votes in BPU, District 2.

For KCKCC Board of Trustees, all three members running were elected, including Evelyn Criswell, Brad Isnard and Linda Hoskins Sutton.

For the Turner School Board, all three candidates running were elected, including Joy Beery, Jeff Davidson and Steve Russell. There were 88 write-in votes.