2019 Wichita mayoral race
Whipple ran in the 2019 election for mayor of Wichita. [23] [24] In the nonpartisan primary election, preliminary results put Whipple (with 5,729 votes; 25.9% of the total) second only to Republican Mayor Longwell (who had 7,136 votes; 32.3%). [25] [5] [26]
Candidate Lyndy Wells, also a Republican, had only 160 votes fewer in initial returns: 5,569 votes; 25.2%, so delayed acceptance of the result in hopes that a review of 1,000 yet-uncounted ballots (including 500 provisional ballots) might turn the election to his favor. [27] [28] [29] The final count nearly doubled Whipple's lead over Wells, [29] advancing Whipple and Longwell to the ballot for the November 5 runoff election. [25] [5] [26] Wells mounted a write-in campaign.
In October 2019, Whipple found himself the victim of an elaborate, multi-state, covert smear campaign in which Republican state Representative Michael Capps was implicated as a perpetrator. [30] After Sedgwick County, Kansas Republican party chair Dalton Glasscock called for Capps to resign, Capps claimed that Glasscock had actually approved the production of the ad, which Glasscock denied. [31]
Money raised for the production of the video was alleged to have been laundered through a charitable non-profit organization directed by Capps to conceal the identities of the alleged perpetrators. [32]
Newly created anonymous entities also attacked both Whipple and Wells weighed via several mailers. Although the sending organizations used different names, they were all linked through a postal permit held by a Kansas City bulk-mail service. The funding of the salacious video as well as the anonymous mailers will not be required to be reported, according to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. It has ruled outside organizations must report their identities and spending only if they use specific key terms such as "vote for," "elect," "vote against" or "defeat". The Democratic party was also criticized for publicly sending a mailer claiming that Longwell was being investigated by the District Attorney for "corruption". In fact, he had just been advised to report contributions and gifts received from the contractor to which a half-billion-dollar contract had been awarded. [33]
On election day, November 5, 2019, Longwell conceded the election to Whipple, who won with 46% of the ballots versus 36% for Longwell, with the balance cast for write-in candidates which remained to be counted. The results were certified on November 15, 2019. [33]
In October 2020, Whipple, represented by former U.S. Attorney Randy Rathbun, filed suit against Capps, Wichita City Councilman James Clendenin, and Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell, for defamation involving the false charges made against him in the 2019 mayoral election race. Allegations cited were that the co-conspirators tried to blame the conspiracy on Sedgwick Republican County Committee Chairman Dalton Glasscock, and that, with false accusations, they intended to generate marital discord within Whipple's own family. [34]
To conceal the donors and funding of the smear, monies were said to have been laundered through a 501(c)3 non-profit charity directed by Capps. The suit had originally been filed against the maker of the video, Matthew Colburn. [32] It was dropped after Colburn provided audio, text messages, and other evidence, that had identified O'Donnell as the alleged leader of the conspiracy to defame Whipple. O'Donnell was accused of writing the script for the video frame-up, [32] Whipple said that he felt sorry for the then-21-year-old Colburn who had been scapegoated by the actual perpetrators. [32]
On November 25, Marc Bennett, the Sedgwick County D.A., moved to have the state take up the case of the removal of Capps from office since the D.A. is precluded from doing so by statute in the case of a state legislator. He was proceeding to remove Clendenin from the City Council where he possessed such authority. [35]
Tenure
COVID-19 pandemic response
Whipple entered office about the time the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. The state governor, Laura Kelly, issued a requirement for the community to wear face masks in public to prevent the spread of the highly contagious disease, which had become widely fatal. However, the conservative state legislature outlawed her mandate, and the conservative local county commission, ignoring advice of its Health Director, withdrew its corresponding mask mandate and other restrictions, to Whipple's dismay. [36] [37] [38] [39]
Responding, Whipple "spearheaded" a move by the City Council to re-impose the mask mandate within the city limits—over intense opposition from many in the community, including around 100 who showed up to protest at the City Council meeting. The Council passed the ordinance, but many bitterly resented it, and blamed Whipple. [36] [37] [39]
Death threat
On October 16, 2020, Meredith Dowty, a 59-year-old local musician and retired firefighter, was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kidnap and kill Whipple after he attempted to get Whipple's address from another city official. He was reportedly frustrated by the city's mask ordinance and other mitigation measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented him from seeing his mother. Whipple, who had been a target of local criticism for passing the ordinance, said he will increase security at his home in response to the alleged threat. [36] [37] [40]
In October 2020, prosecutors charged Dowty with three felony counts of criminal threats causing "terror, evacuation or disruption." Shortly before trial, in May 2023, he pled "no contest" to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct, and was sentenced to two years probation, with the threat of 30 days in jail if violating the terms of probation. [41] [42]
City Council ethics policy
In keeping with a campaign promise, in reaction to the developer-dealings of the prior City Council, Whipple pushed for a City Council Code of Ethics—which forbid Council members to vote on matters which had a material benefit to them personally or to a member of their immediate family, and restricted Council members from accepting gifts that represented a conflict-of-interest. The Code had further provisions as well. It was adopted by the City Council in May, 2021. [43] [44]
Land development
Whipple, along with nearly all City Council members, approved the controversial bargain sale and subsequent development of city land on the West Bank of the Arkansas River, opposite downtown, into apartment and hotel buildings, adjacent to the city's new ballpark, saying it was needed to improve the city's quantity of housing and to offset the costs of the costly new ballpark, which had been a financial failure for the city. However, Whipple expressed reluctance to fully trust the same developers with the new project. [45] [46]
In this case, and others, Whipple urged greater transparency in the deals, and prior public notice of the details, opposing "secret" deals between the city and developers. [45] [46]
Juvenile death in law enforcement custody
September 24, 2021, a mentally ill juvenile, Cedric Lofton, died while physically restrained in a county juvenile detention center, where he had been taken by Wichita police. When the local district attorney refused to file charges against any involved, Whipple publicized police bodycam footage that exposed police to increased criticism for their handling of the youth. [47] [48]
Whipple appeared critical of the police decision to arrest Lofton rather than take him to a mental care facility [49] —a criticism opposed by the local police union. [50]
Police exchanges of bigoted messages
March, 2022, it was revealed that a small group of local law enforcement officers, including 13 Wichita Police officers—some of them members of the SWAT team, and some who had shot civilians—had been exchanging racist, sexist and homophobic text messages, and jokes about shooting people, a year earlier. [51] [52] [50]
While the County had dismissed its officers involved, the Wichita officers involved had received only disciplinary action. Responding, the city's Citizens' Review Board (CRB) and the local newspaper made the matter public, resulting in pressure for more aggressive discipline, ultimately resulting in 3 officers resigning, 3 suspended, and others reprimanded. [51] [52] [50]
Though an ordinance forbid the mayor and council from controlling the City's discipline of employees, Whipple initially said, "We should not be tolerating this type of behavior from any employees in our city," promising to make the issue a "top priority.” [51] [52] [50]
Roller rink conflict
New Year's Eve, 2022/2023, at a roller skating rink, a teenager intervened in the arrest of another teenager by punching the arresting officer in the back of the head, leading to a fight between the officer and the juvenile. Upon viewing video camera footage of the incident, Mayor Whipple immediately criticized the officer's actions as excessive, accusing the officer "try[ing] to kill him." The police union promptly criticized the Mayor for "reckless statements without knowing all the facts and context." [53]
Confrontation with police
On September 24, 2022, while at a community cleanup event—delivering trash from his nearby rental property—Whipple became involved in a verbal altercation with a Wichita Police officer after cutting in line at a dump site, and then resisting the officer's orders to turn around. [54]
In footage obtained from the officer's body-worn camera, Whipple is seen calling City Manager Robert Layton and telling him that the officer "doesn't know who I am," before requesting the name of the acting chief of police so that he could file a complaint. [55]
Whipple released the footage, himself, on October 13, after learning the officer's body camera was not turned on for the beginning of the altercation, during which Whipple claimed the officer yelled at him. [56] Whipple used the situation to call for a review of Wichita police body-camera policies, but ultimately apologized for his role in the event. [57]
The local police union expressed offense, countering that the video Whipple released was not complete, and claimed that Whipple's version of the story was false or exaggerated. They said the officer had been defamed by Whipple and his political associates, and called for an apology. [58] [8]
On May 11, 2023, the City of Wichita Ethics Board ruled 4-0 that Whipple had violated the city code of ethics, concluding that he had, "Used his office to seek favor and private gain by the manner in which he sought to dump his trash instead of waiting in line," and further cited him for using "his unique direct access to the city manager [by calling] him during an encounter with a police officer, on a Saturday, to make a complaint about the officer." [54] [59]
2023 mayoral election
Wichita's 2023 Wichita mayoral election was the most intense in years. [60]
Whipple was opposed by several candidates in the non-partisan Mayoral primary, particularly including strong opposition from:
- City Council Member Bryan Frye (widely backed by the developer community) [60]
- Celeste Racette (a community activist who led a campaign to save Century II convention center from demolition); [60] and
- Lily Wu, a former TV reporter, and political newcomer (backed by local Libertarian billionaire Charles Koch, and extensive, unreported PAC spending—particularly from the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP). [60]
Wu (with 30% of the vote) and Whipple (with 24% of the vote, narrowly defeating Bryan Frye) were the two top vote-getters, and proceeded to the 2023 Wichita City General Election. [60]
The campaign was bitterly contested, and heavily covered in local media, with multiple head-to-head candidate debates and joint appearances at various public forums. But most public contact was through extensive advertising campaigns by the candidates and their supporters. [60]
Whipple received support from a PAC run by his wife, and from the local firefighters' union. [60]
But Wu far outdistanced Whipple in campaign donations (reported and unreported) -- receiving broad support from the business community, intense funding and advertising from Koch-related PAC's (particularly AFP), and from the local police union. A final barrage of Wu-supporting advertisements—including numerous TV ads replaying the police bodycam video of Whipple's confrontation with an officer, and ads about Wichita's crime rate under Whipple—filled the airwaves and mailboxes. [60] [50]
Whipple (42%) lost to Wu (58%), who was sworn in on January 8, 2024. [60] [61]
