Kansas City voters narrowed down a crowded slate of City Council candidates in Tuesday’s primary election.
It was the first step in shaping how the 12-seat City Council will look over the next four years. The two top vote-getters in each race will move on to the general election on June 20. In races with two or fewer candidates, both automatically move on to the general election.
Turnout in Tuesday’s primary was 14% in Kansas City — far lower than turnout in the 2019 municipal primary election, which was nearly 20%. The 2019 primary election, however, saw nearly a dozen mayoral candidates, versus this year’s race between incumbent Quinton Lucas and perennial candidate Clay Chastain.
In Clay County, turnout on Tuesday was 14%, while 15% of Platte County voters cast a ballot this election.
Six council members are running for a second term — all of them earned enough votes to move on to the general election. Six other council seats are up for grabs and will welcome a new face later this year.
While both mayoral candidates automatically advanced to the June election, Tuesday’s results indicate an easy second term for incumbent Mayor Quinton Lucas. He received 35,351 votes. His opponent, Clay Chastain, a Virginia resident who frequently runs for office in Kansas City and always loses, received 8,027 votes.
The results of this year’s election cycle could have major implications for how Kansas City develops in the next four years. A slate of candidates are putting housing affordability at the forefront of their campaigns and promising “co-governance”, a model in which elected officials work with community members and grassroots groups to craft and pass policies.
Notably, former Jackson County legislator Theresa Cass Galvin failed to move on to the general election in the 5th District at-large. In one of the closest races of the night, Galvin earned 30.75% of the vote. Darrell Curls, a former Hickman School Board member, and Michael Kelley, policy director for BikeWalkKC, earned 36% and 34% of the vote, respectively.
Jenay Manley and Johnathan Duncan, two candidates backed by KC Tenants Power, the newly formed political lobbying arm of citywide tenant union KC Tenants, also advanced to the general election.
"I think this will likely be the most progressive city council that we have seen in Kansas City's history," Lucas said following Tuesday's results. "I think what this means is that this is a city that is going to continue to do what I said four years ago, that we needed to do walk and chew gum. We cannot just focus on airports and hotels and World Cups. We need to also make sure that we're lifting up everyone."
Here are the unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary elections, with data from the Kansas City, Clay County and Platte County election boards.
1st At-Large
- Kevin O’Neill (incumbent): 27,254
- Ronda Smith: 8,591
- Pam Mason: 6,383
1st In-District
- Nathan Willett: 5,149
- Chris Gahagan: 2,472
2nd At-Large
- Lindsay French: 19,523
- Jenay Manley: 14,260
- Mickey Younghanz: 7,648
2nd In-District
- Wes Rogers: 5,038
3rd At-Large
- Melissa Patterson Hazley: 25,134
- Brandon Ellington (incumbent): 14,961
3rd In-District
- Melissa Robinson (incumbent): 3,852
- Sheri Hall: 696
4th At-Large
- Crispin Rea: 15,219
- Justin Short: 9,033
- Grace Cabrera: 6,861
- Jess Blubaugh: 5,700
- John DiCapo: 5,272
4th In-District
- Eric Bunch (incumbent): 3,612
- Henry Rizzo: 1,676
- Crissy Dastrup: 1,340
5th At-Large
- Darrell Curls: 14,898
- Michael Kelley: 14,034
- Theresa Cass Galvin: 12,846
5th In-District
- Ryana Parks-Shaw (incumbent): 5,542
6th At-Large
- Andrea Bough (incumbent): 25,500
- Jill Sasse: 8,903
- Mary Nestel: 7,136
6th In-District
- Dan Tarwater: 5,297
- Johnathan Duncan: 2,799
- Tiffany Moore: 1,448
- Cecelia Carter: 1,346
- Michael Schuckman: 742
