KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Voters on both sides of the Kansas City area will head to the polls on Nov. 7 to decide local races and ballot questions. This is our guide to help make that process a little easier.
JACKSON COUNTY
Voters in Jackson County, including those within Kansas City, will decide one ballot question.
Question 1 asks voters to impose a local use tax at the same rate as the county sales tax – currently at 1.38%. The use tax would go up and down with the sales tax. It would fund road and bridge projects, programs for the homeless population, and renovations and repairs to the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City and the Eastern Jackson County Courthouse and Historic Truman Courthouse in Independence.
KANSAS CITY
Voters in Kansas City, including those in Jackson, Clay, and Platte Counties, will decide two ballot questions:
- Question 1 asks voters to extend for ten years the current three-eighths sales tax that helps fund the public bus system operated by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
- Question 2 asks voters to remove about 5.4 acres of vacant land from the city’s park system.
PLATTE COUNTY
PARKVILLE
Voters in Parkville will consider two propositions.
- Proposition T asks voters to impose a local use tax that will always be at the same rate as the local sales tax. The local sales tax sits at 2.5% right now. The use tax would fund road construction projects and maintain and improve the city’s sidewalks and trails system.
- Proposition M asks voters to impose a 3% city sales tax on retail sales of recreational marijuana.
CLAY COUNTY
Proposition A asks voters to impose a $1 monthly fee on cell phone users to fund the county’s 911 system. If voters approve the proposition, the current $1 fee on land lines would be removed.
SMITHVILLE
A proposition in Smithville asks voters to impose a half-cent sales tax to improve public safety.
CASS COUNTY
Voters in the Public Water Supply District No. 10 will consider whether to approve $8 million in bonds to improve the water system.
The cities of Drexel and Pleasant Hill both have a ballot question asking voters to impose a 3% sales tax on retail sales of recreational marijuana.
JOHNSON COUNTY
When voters in Bonner Springs, Leawood, and Lenexa head to the polls, their respective mayors will not be on the ballot. Bonner Springs Mayor Jeff Harrington has held that role since 2013, Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn since 1997, and Lenexa Mayor Michael Boehm since 2003. All three have chosen not to run again. Here’s a look at those who hope to replace them.
BONNER SPRINGS
Tom Stephens and Jordan Mackey are running for mayor of Bonner Springs. Stephens currently sits on the Bonner Springs City Council and serves as Council President. He has been on the council for 16 years. Mackey previously served on the city council but didn’t run again after the district attorney’s office charged him with several misdemeanors, including impersonating a police officer. Those charges were later dismissed.
LEAWOOD
Marc Elkins and Steve Hentzen are running for mayor of Leawood. According to Elkins’ campaign website, he grew up in Manhattan and went to school at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas. He joined the leadership team at Cerner in 2003 and was the company’s chief compliance officer and associate general counsel until his retirement in 2021. Hentzen is chairman and co-founder of the Prostate Network, a nonprofit that supports and educates prostate cancer survivors and their partners. He went to school at Johnson County Community College and the University of Kansas.
LENEXA
Joe Karlin and Julie Sayers are running for mayor of Lenexa. Karlin currently sits on the Lenexa City Council and claims membership in several civic organizations. He attended Kansas State University. Sayers also sits on the Lenexa City Council. She is a commercial interior designer and went to school at the University of Kansas.
PRAIRIE VILLAGE
Half of the Prairie Village City Council is up for election amid a housing policy debate that has split many residents into two factions. City leaders are trying to make housing more affordable and diverse while maintaining the integrity of existing neighborhoods. One of the city’s proposals would allow more multi-family duplexes and small apartments in the 10 percent of the city not zoned for single-family housing. The group Prairie Village For All supports that proposal and others, while the group Stop Rezoning Prairie Village opposes them.
Inga Selders (Ward 2), Bonnie Limbered (Ward 3), Piper Reimer (Ward 4), and Ian Graves (Ward 6) are the incumbents in their wards. Mark Samuel, Lori Sharp, Tyler Agniel, and Kelly Wyer are their respective challengers and have the support of Stop Rezoning Prairie Village. Terry O’Toole is running unopposed in Ward 1. Ciara Chaney and Nicholas Reddell are running in Ward 5.
OVERLAND PARK
Half of the Overland Park City Council is also up for election. Holly Grummert (Ward 1), Tom Carignan (Ward 3), Faris Farassati (Ward 5), and Scott Hamblin (Ward 6) are the incumbents. Carol Merritt, Richard Borlaza, Inas Younis, and Chris Newlin are their respective challengers. Drew Mitrisin and Jameia Haines are running in Ward 2. Gregg Riess is running unopposed in Ward 4.
SHAWNEE
The mayor and four city council members are up for election in Shawnee, Kansas. The city made headlines the week before Election Day when the current city council placed the city manager on administrative leave. Current Mayor Michelle Distler is not running for reelection. Current Councilman Mike Kemmling is running for mayor against Mickey Sandifer. Kemmling said he’s part of a growing contingent on the council that won’t rubber-stamp actions recommended from city staff members. Sandifer said he’ll respect the staff’s recommendations as staff members are hired to run the day-to-day functions of city government with professionalism. In the four council races three incumbents are seeking reelection.
BLUE VALLEY BOARD OF EDUCATION
Four seats are up for grabs on the Blue Valley Board of Education in a race that features two slates of candidates. The so-called A+ Team is made up of incumbents Jodie Dietz, Patrick Hurley, Jan Kessinger, and newcomer Clay Norkey, while the so-called Blue Valley Excellence slate features Rachel Faagutu, Trisha Hamilton, Michael Huebner, and Christine Vasquez. The A+ Team slate of candidates is generally thought to be more moderate and hopes to maintain the status quo. The Blue Valley Excellence slate of candidates are more conservative and have been critical of a curriculum they say has focused too much on cultural hot-button issues such as gender and race. Three district seats and an at-large seat are on the ballot.
WYANDOTTE COUNTY
Voters in Wyandotte County will be electing five new commissioners to the Unified Government’s Board of Commissioners with the future of Unified Government up in the air. The mayors of Kansas City, Kansas, Edwardsville, and Bonner Springs recently announced plans to evaluate the county’s form of government. That could ultimately lead to the deconsolidation of the Unified Government.
EDWARDSVILLE
Voters in Edwardsville will decide whether to renew for 10 years a half-cent sales tax used to maintain roads, city parks, and public safety buildings and equipment.
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 500
Eleven candidates are running for four seats on the Board of Education. Janey Marie Humphries, Yolanda S. Clark, and Randy Lopez are incumbents and hope to retain their seats on the school board. Stacy Yeager previously served on the board. Brenda Scruggs Andrieu, Deon Whitten, Robert L. Milan, Jr., Randy Lopez, Valdenia C. Winn, Yolonda Johnson, Mary Ann Mosley, and Angelynn Howell would be school board newcomers.
TURNER UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 202
Voters in the Kansas City, Kansas’ Turner School District will elect four school board members. Five candidates are running, including four incumbents and one newcomer. The newcomer is Aaron Coleman, who was arrested twice while serving as a Kansas state representative in 2021. Coleman entered a diversion agreement in the domestic violence case. Prosecutors amended Coleman’s suspected DUI case to a speeding a failure to yield citations. The top four vote-getters earn seats on the Turner school board.
