If the telephone calls I’m receiving are any indication, our readers are honestly seeking direction on whom to support in the Wichita mayor’s race.
I’m pleased that people are interested in voting and especially pleased that they want to be informed voters, in a race where it’s not easy to get a clear understanding of where the candidates stand in the midst of tricky mailer after mailer from unidentified political action committees.
At The Voice, the answer was clear for us, we wholeheartedly endorse Mayor Brandon Whipple for reelection.
We like Lily Wu and think she’s a nice person and a great reporter. Her immigrant, pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps story is inspiring, and as a minority and a female, we gave her an extra degree of consideration.
Still, we don’t think she’s prepared and informed enough about the workings of city hall and we question the six-figure financial support she’s getting from conservative political advocacy groups.
Yes, Mayor Whipple is a White male, but as I’m known for saying, “Everything Black isn’t good for us,” and the reverse of that statement is, “Everything White isn’t bad for us.”
It’s way past time that we support a person just because they’re Black or a minority, or a female versus a male.
It’s time we support the best person for the job, and that person is Mayor Brandon Whipple.
As mayor, he helped pass a local anti-discrimination law and just recently passed the CROWN Act, a bill making it illegal to discriminate against people for wearing their hair natural (i.e. braids, locs and afros).
In the absence of state-passed legislation legalizing even medical marijuana, he helped pass local legislation decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Even though the local races are nonpartisan, his voting history in the Kansas Legislature and as mayor shows he can be counted on to vote for issues that help OUR community.
In votes that can be divided between the half (3) liberal and half (3) conservative council members, I feel comfortable that we can count on him to cast a deciding vote that most often helps OUR community.
Yes, he may have tried to use his position as mayor to get to the front of a line, but Donald Trump has done way more than that and Republicans still support him.
It’s time to move past that and on to bigger issues.
Among the bigger issues is the support Wichita’s business and conservative community is putting behind Wu.
Then there’s the $200,000+ Americans For Prosperity, a libertarian-conservative political advocacy group founded by Charles Koch, has put behind those tricky mailers you’ve been receiving that support Wu.
You can bet individuals who put big money behind her campaign have expectations for something in return.
That’s what makes me most scared about Wu.
Yes, she’s nice now, and she’s in our community now, but was she here before, and will she be once she’s elected?
I’d say past practices predict future behavior, another reason we support Whipple over Wu.