Kansas City 2019 primary results: Justus and Lucas advance, pre-K tax rejected, City Council field narrowed
A current member of the Kansas City Council — either Jolie Justus or Quinton Lucas — will succeed Sly James as the next mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, voters decided yesterday.
Justus came out on top of the field of 11 candidates, gaining just under 23 percent of the dismal turnout — only 40,180 ballots cast, which is less than 20 percent of voters registered in KC. Lucas came in four points behind her. Behind Lucas was Alissia Canady and Steve Miller, but only the top two advance.
Justus moving on to the general election, which will take place on June 18, is not a huge surprise. The first-term 4th District at-large councilwoman was widely viewed as a frontrunner in the race. She raised more money than everybody else and had Sly’s endorsement, among others.
If elected, Justus would be the first LGBTQ mayor of Kansas City. Out of the 11 candidates, Justus was the candidate whose views most closely reflect that of our current mayor. She told The Pitch back in February that she and Mayor James share a similar vision for the city, but that she would be more of a collaborator and take the time to bring diverse viewpoints to the table before making decisions.
Lucas, on the other hand, holds himself out as more of a change agent. Also a first-term councilman — he reps the 3rd District, at-large — he’s said that James was the right pick for the last eight years, taking office at a time when the city needed to be more excited and engaged, but that now it’s time to focus on the basic stuff: potholes, trash collection, affordable housing. Lucas says he will be more attentive than James to how he spends taxpayer dollars, going for the lowest incentives to get money back into taxpayer hands sooner.
It was less clear how Lucas would fare in this election, owing to a DUI he received in Lawrence last year (he’s contesting it) and a general lack of reliable, targeted polling.
Pre-K Economic Development Sales Tax Rejected
Mayor James’ pre-K economic development sales tax was widely rejected by 66 percent of Kansas City voters.
The downfall of the sales tax wasn’t much of a shocker, given that it was opposed by all 15 school districts whose boundaries cross over into Kansas City, all but one of the mayoral candidates (Jolie Justus), and several civil rights organizations like the Urban League and the Kansas City chapter of the NAACP. The plan’s main supporters were charter schools and large, local business interests.
If the tax had passed, it would have generated $30 million a year that would have been used to cover up to $12,000 in tuition for families (based on a sliding scale for household income), make improvements to programs, classrooms, and teacher quality, as well as increase the availability of seats for high-quality pre-K.
The plan was criticized for the regressive nature of the sales tax, for not giving school districts enough say in the program, and for diverting taxpayer-raised funds to both public and private early education programs.
City Council Finalists
The final candidates for the KCMO City Council general election were also decided on Tuesday.
Council members Heather Hall (1st District At-Large), Teresa Loar (2nd District At-Large) and Kevin McManus (6th District) all ran unopposed and will keep their seats on the council. Kevin O’Neill also ran unopposed in his first-time run for the 1st District At-Large seat.
Incumbent Dan Fowler will face off against Kevin McEvoy for his 2nd District seat. On the council, Fowler has served as Chairman of the Ethics and Legal Review Committee, Vice Chair of the Housing Committee, and Vice Chair of the Airport Committee. McEvoy is a 15-year resident of the Northland.
In the 3rd District, Rep. Brandon Ellington and Rev. Wallace Hartsfield II will be on the ballot. Ellington is currently serving his second term as a Democrat in the Missouri House of Representatives; he’s also the House Minority Whip. Hartsfield is the pastor at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church and has a B. A. in psychology from UMKC. He earned his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Emory University.
Vying for the at-large 3rd District seat will be Joseph “Joey Cuts” Thomas and Melissa Robinson. Thomas owns a barbershop and started the Fresh Cut Fresh Start project that gives free haircuts and school supplies to metro children. Robinson is the president of Black Healthcare Coalition, and previously served on the KCPS School Board and as Director of Crisis Intervention at the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime,
Advancing to the general election for the 4th District At-Large seat: incumbent Kathryn Shields and Robert Westfall. Shields, a longtime local political figure, is the Vice Chair of the Neighborhoods and Public Safety Committee and of the Youth Development Committee, and previously served as the Jackson County Executive. Westfall is a Kansas City resident who says that he decided he wanted to make a difference in his community after recovering from alcoholism.
For the 4th District seat, Eric Bunch and Geoff Jolley will face off. Bunch is the co-founder of BikeWalkKC, a nonprofit focused on making it safer and easier to be a pedestrian or bicyclist in Kansas City. Jolley is a Kansas City firefighter, attorney, and worked under Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver for 13 years.
Lee Barnes Jr. will fight to keep his 5th District At-Large seat against Dwayne Williams. Barnes is the Vice Chair of the Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee and the Director of Operations for the Swope Corridor Renaissance/Upper Room, Inc. Williams is the President and CEO of the Twelfth Street Development Corporation which focuses on improving the quality of life for residents in Kansas City’s most challenged urban neighborhoods.
Running for the 5th District seat will be Ryana Parks-Shaw and Edward Bell II. Parks-Shaw serves on the Missouri Hospice and Palliative Care Association Board and previously worked for the Missouri Department of Health and ran her own small-business. Bell is an Executive Consultant at Clearpoint Executive Consulting, and represents the 5th District on the Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC).
In the 6th District, Andrea Bough and Stacey Johnson-Cosby will face off. Bough is an attorney at Lewis Rice Law Firm, where she practices real estate and land use law. Johnson-Cosby, a real-estate broker, founded the South Kansas City Alliance and represents the sixth district on the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund and Public Improvement Advisory Committee.
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