KANSAS CITY, Kan. — David Alvey wins the KCK mayoral race, beating incumbent Mayor Mark Holland.
Alvey won the race by a tight margin with 52 percent of the votes. Alvey currently serves as a Member-At-Large for the KCK Board of Public Utilities.
Both candidates' watch parties were packed with supporters.
Mark Holland defeated. David Alvey is new WYCO KCK mayor. Says voter turnout low. Said theres a lot he hoped to do. Said he's reaching out to Alvey for transition. @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/3L4hqnEY7A
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) November 8, 2017
Holland addressed the crowd, telling them he's disappointed and he thought they ran a strong race.
Alvey's party had many members from the fire department, whose relationship with Holland is strained amid talks of potentially shutting down fire stations in the county's core.
Holland said he doesn't think voters within the fire department led to his loss, but that Alvey's campaign simply did better.
Alvey faced heat for voting to increase utility rates, but he said it was absolutely necessary just to keep BPU afloat. He says residents shouldn't worry about their utility rates increasing under his leadership.
Alvey supporters say he'll keep a better relationship with fire and police while bringing in development to the whole county.
Investing in neighborhoods and reducing the property tax burden are Alvey's priorities.
Development is what many voters say they want to see, with criticism directed at Holland for bringing commercial development only to west Kansas City, Kansas.
Holland and Alvey both agree downtown KCK needs a revitalization, but Alvey says he'll do more to bring up the aging infrastructure.
Holland said there's more he would have liked to do, such as figure out a system to support foster kids aging out of the system and seeing an Indian Springs revitalization come to fruition.
Nonetheless, the two will work together during the transition.
Holland was first elected in 2013 and is the third mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.
