Libertarian Lily Wu defeated Democratic incumbent Brandon Whipple in Tuesday’s election for Mayor of Wichita, Kansas.
Wu, a political newcomer with a background in local television reporting, unseated the incumbent Brandon Whipple, who had served four terms in the Kansas House of Representatives before becoming mayor. According to local media reports, Wu won with 35,859 votes to Whipple’s 25,557
Campaign finance reports publicized the week previously also showed that Wu raised just over $221,731.01 since the end of July. In stark contrast, Whipple’s campaign had garnered only $72,469.50 during the same period.
While the election was technically nonpartisan, both candidates saw their affiliations become topics of conversation at various points on the campaign trail. In the weeks leading up to the election, Whipple saw his campaign bolstered by mailers distributed by the Kansas Democratic Party. Wu, in contrast, fielded criticism in the media by the Libertarian Party of Kansas for her unwillingness to agree to a party-hosted debate with Whipple.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Libertarian Party of Kansas said to local media that all that needed to happen was “for Lily to agree to show up” and that the party was “unlikely” to endorse Wu going into election day as a result. The Libertarian Party of Kansas never made a formal endorsement.
Wu also attracted negative attention from Kansas Libertarians over her views on law enforcement. While on the campaign trail, Wu was an open advocate of city police department recruitment and increased policing resources, putting her at odds with some in the leadership.
Since news of Wu’s election, the Libertarian Party of Kansas has gone on to denounce her, saying she’s not “associated or engaged” with the organization before applauding the “true Libertarians” who won during yesterday’s elections.
“Make no mistake: Lily Wu is not associated or engaged with this party. She is backed by AFP and Koch and ran on giving more resources to cops” the account stated on Wednesday morning.
Make no mistake: Lily Wu is not associated or engaged with this party. She is backed by AFP and Koch and ran on giving more resources to cops.
— Libertarian Party of Kansas (@LPKS_Org) November 8, 2023
Readers of Independent Political Report can view previous coverage of the Wichita Mayoral Election here.
Congratulations Lily Wu, and good luck rolling back the State in your new role as Wichita mayor!
If it’s true that you have been calling for more government police however, please rethink this. It is incoherent to be against Big Government, while at the same time trying to expand the law enforcement arm of that government. When push comes to shove, uniformed goons with guns will be the ones enforcing all the anti-freedom laws on the books.
Corruption in government law enforcement, both individually and systemically, is real and pervasive. Like corruption in other government agencies, the more time goes on and the more the size, cost, scope, and power of the State increase, the worse it will become.
Please listen to Kansas Libertarians who have been consistent in upholding the Non-Aggression Principle, and work with them to come up with alternative messages on fighting crime in ways that respect individual liberties and do not simply replace petty crime with government crime while burning through ever more taxpayer money.
The LP is acting like the GOP. I say her next stop should be the Govenor’s office. You go Girl!
It’s kind of ridiculous to me that party leadership types think they can dictate to everyone what a party stands for. Lily Wu is going to define to Wichita and surrounding areas what the Libertarian Party is because she got elected as a Libertarian and will instantly affect significantly more people than the Libertarian Party of Kansas Twitter account does. Have a problem with that? Run for office and get mass popular support.