by Mary Rupert
Third District Unified Government Commissioner Ann Brandau Murguia said this week she won’t run for mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, this year.
Murguia, who ran for mayor four years ago against Incumbent Mayor Mark Holland, said she remains very interested in the mayoral contest and who will be the next mayor.
She said she is not supporting either Holland or challenger David Alvey at the present time, as she has not yet discussed her interests with all candidates. She will be talking to candidates to determine the one she will support.
She said she would support a candidate who is supportive of the people in the 3rd District and what they want.
“We need a mayor who is supportive of Argentine and what happens here,” she said. She is also interested in a candidate who will support growth and development in the 3rd District and throughout the county. In addition, she supports a candidate who would move Wyandotte County forward, someone who works well with the commission and presents a positive view of the commission.
Murguia’s comments this week were consistent with her remarks to the Wyandotte Daily four years ago after the election that she did not intend to run for mayor again in 2017. Holland won election in 2013 with 56 percent of the vote to Murguia’s 43 percent.
She said she plans to continue her role as 3rd District commissioner, which is not up for election this year. The 3rd District term is through 2019. She is the executive director of the Argentine Neighborhood Development Association. She also serves as a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Baker University.
The filing deadline for the 2017 local elections is noon June 1. The primary will be in August and the general election in November.