Tarence Maddox’s re-election chances took a hit after Tuesday’s primary election in Kansas City, Kansas
Tarence Maddox’s turbulent political career lives on for at least another month.
The embattled Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, 4th District commissioner advanced out of a three-candidate primary election Tuesday night.
But the bad news for Maddox is that he has plenty of ground to cover and little time to do it against top vote-getter Harold Johnson if he wants a second term in office.
Johnson captured more than 53 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s 4th District primary, putting a sizable distance on Maddox, who received nearly 34 percent of the vote. Scott Murray, a former UG employee, is out of the race with only 12 percent of the vote.
Maddox has been censured twice by the UG Ethics Commission and has made the news less because of any legislative achievements and more due to his erratic behavior, which includes a tirade at LegoLand at Crown Center and threatening a convenience-store owner with inspections by UG staff.
Johnson, a pastor, has run a smart campaign against the incumbent and appears to have strong momentum heading into next month’s general election.
In other UG election news, the long-vacant 1st District At-Large seat is closer to having a warm body occupy it after Melissa Bynum and Mark Gilstrap escaped out of a close horse race of a primary election. Bynum received 1,125 votes, just 23 more than Gilstrap. Gilstrap finished with only 10 more votes than former longtime UG Commissioner Nathan Barnes in a primary that had seven candidates. Other contenders such as LaVert Murray, Janice Witt and Christal Watson finished well behind the race’s top three candidates. Activist Tamika Pledger, whose position on the ballot remained under the long shadow of involuntary-manslaughter charges against her, finished last with 122 votes.
Finally, Chris McCord and Norman Scott advanced out of the Board of Public Utilities at-large primary, beating out Thomas Gordon and Murray Anderson.
