Prairie Village voters turned out in record-breaking numbers on Nov. 4 to reject all six candidates backed by Prairie Village United in a decisive victory for allies of the incumbent City Council.
In all, 60% of Prairie Village voters cast ballots for a candidate who supports the municipal complex project and opposes PV United, the resident-led group at the center of a yearslong conflict in the quiet Johnson County suburb.
The candidates backed by PV United ran as a slate demanding that the city hall project be put up for a public vote and that the city cut spending and oppose any zoning changes that would increase housing density.
“PVU has said all along that they want the council to listen to voters,” Prairie Village resident Jeff Brack commented on a Facebook post after the unofficial election results were released. “Well, the voters sent a very loud and clear message about how they felt about the PVU candidates and the tactics of that group.”
Councilmember Cole Robinson, who won reelection in Ward 1 with 63% of the vote, celebrated the results as a sound rejection of the “years of litigation, years of recalls” and continued division.
One PV United-backed candidate, Dan Prussing, who lost his race against Jim Sellers for the Ward 6 seat to replace Councilmember Terrence Gallagher, said he’s still trying to figure out what Tuesday night’s vote means.
“I’m not sure if the (campaign) message didn’t resonate or what it was to be honest with you, and I’m still kind of in shock actually,” Prussing said.
Tuesday's winners
- Ward 1: Cole Robinson, with 62.8% of the vote
- Ward 2: Ronald Nelson, with 64.8% of the vote
- Ward 3: Shelby Bartelt, with 56.1% of the vote
- Ward 4: Nathan Vallette, with 58.8% of the vote
- Ward 5: Betsy Lawrence, with 55.9% of the vote
- Ward 6: Jim Sellers, with 63.7% of the vote
All six candidates supported the city hall project. Every candidate backed by PV United lost their race.
The “abandon” question failed, with 5,690 votes against, or 65.1%.
Historic turnout
This year marked the first time in at least 40 years that all six wards had a competitive race between two active candidates. More voters turned out to cast ballots than in any other Prairie Village city election in at least 27 years.
By contrast, the election of 2019 had a competitive election in just three out of six council wards.
And in 2002, all six wards on the ballot for the Prairie Village City Council election had just one candidate per ward. That election drew 524 voters — compared to the 8,839 voters who participated in the 2025 election.
The sharp rise in voter turnout reflects harsher political rhetoric in the quiet northeast Johnson County suburb of Prairie Village.
For her part, Councilmember Lori Sharp — a key PV United figure — celebrated the increased voter turnout even as candidates she backed lost elections across the city.
“All too often, local offices are uncontested,” Sharp wrote in her newsletter the day after the election. “This year, all six wards had smart, well-qualified choices, and I’m grateful to those who made this possible.”
What next?
Prairie Village voters resoundingly rejected PV United-backed candidates on Nov. 4, as well as the “abandon” question that PV United placed on the ballot. That ballot question asked voters whether to abandon the city’s form of government but did not outline how it would be replaced.
A federal lawsuit challenging the municipal complex project was dismissed on Nov. 3, clearing the path for the project to move forward — for now.
The judge ruled that the issue did not involve any federal questions. But if the project’s opponents choose to sue Prairie Village in state court, that could delay the city hall project once again.
Robinson, who won reelection in Ward 1, told the Post on Tuesday that Prairie Village is one of “the most toxic political environments” in the region.
“That was all soundly rejected tonight,” he said on election night.
But in any case, the winners of the Nov. 4 election will likely continue to reckon with a divided city, where 35% of voters said they wanted the city to abandon its form of government.
PV United and its efforts have consumed council chambers for the past three years, and while voters decisively rejected the group’s candidates and attempt to “abandon” the government, it remains unclear whether that will impact the tense climate at city hall.
Sharp declined an interview about the election results.
The PV United candidates who lost in Wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 did not respond to requests for comment on the election results.
‘We have to get back to the innocence of municipal government’
Over the past two years, Prairie Village City Council meetings have become tense and heated — not just with resident feedback during public comment, but also between elected officials on the dais.
This tension grew over the past year, and in particular as Election Day neared.
During an August meeting, Councilmembers Dave Robinson and Ron Nelson called out Sharp for her email newsletters, saying that she riles up the public. Sharp remained quiet from the dais during the exchange, aside from simply mouthing: “Wow.”
On Oct. 20, Councilmember Nick Reddell and Mayor Eric Mikkelson accused each other of politicizing the meeting’s agenda that night.
Reddell told Mikkelson, “Before you attack me…” But Mikkelson cut Reddell’s microphone before he could finish the sentence.
Later in the evening, while Councilmember Ian Graves was speaking about the agenda issue, Sharp muttered something.
Graves stopped midsentence and said, “Sorry, did you say something?”
But Prairie Village City Council meetings weren’t always like this.
Former councilmembers like Ruth Hopkins and Pat Daniels recall a time when respect and discussion were commonplace inside council chambers. Other former council members including Jori Nelson, Dan Runion, Sheila Myers and Brooke Morehead are or have been PV United leaders.
Hopkins, who wrapped up a 24-year run as a Ward 2 representative in 2016, described a “wonderful” experience on the City Council. She remembers good relationships with city staff and fellow councilmembers.
When disagreements arose, Hopkins said, city staff and council were able to “talk it out among ourselves … and come to common ground.”
The singular “ugly moment” she recalls during all of her 24 years on the City Council was when the Mission Valley Middle School property was sold to Tutera Group, with one very contentious meeting. That property is now Mission Chateau, a senior living community.
“I don’t ever remember (there) being the kind of response that’s happening in Prairie Village now,” Hopkins said. “It was one particular issue … and it ended up working out fine.”
Daniels represented Ward 4 for one term, from 2004 to 2008. He said there was an innocence to campaigning in Prairie Village at that time, recalling a pair of fifth graders who knocked on doors for him telling Ward 4 residents: “You need to vote for Pat Daniels because he’s the best one.”
Like Hopkins, Daniels said he had a “wonderful experience” serving Prairie Village.
As a self-described “positive thinker by nature,” Daniels said he finds the atmosphere in council chambers over the past few years to be “unfortunate.”
“We have to get back to the innocence of municipal government,” Daniels said. “We have to get back to the respect that we have for somebody with differing views. We can have differing views. That’s where good policy’s made.”
Turning down the temperature
Raucous public meetings aren’t anything new. And it’s not unique to Prairie Village.
But Ashley Muddiman, a communications professor at the University of Kansas, said it has become more common in recent decades for political leaders to engage in things like name-calling.
Muddiman is an expert in incivility and rhetoric and has spent years studying how people violate commonly accepted norms in behavior or government.
“When politicians are using these different types of incivility in their social media posts, for instance, the comments they get are also more uncivil,” she said. “They’re changing what the norms are, and then members of the public feel more comfortable behaving in similar ways.”
Hopkins, the former councilmember, described resident behavior at recent City Council meetings as “ugly,” “hateful” and “frightening.”
In the past few years, Hopkins said, she’s spoken during the public comment period of a City Council meeting. She encouraged her neighbors to turn down the temperature and to have respect for differing views. But she said the “angry” crowd turns on anyone who speaks about civility or getting along with one another.
And those strong emotions are still running high after the Nov. 4 election.
“All of them just shutting up and going away is the best possible result,” one Prairie Village resident wrote on Facebook the morning after the election.
“You don’t live here,” wrote another resident on Facebook. “So get lost. Progressive in your bio tells me all I need to know.”
Prussing, who lost his Ward 6 race to replace Terrence Gallagher, said his campaign stuck to what he sees as the top challenges facing Prairie Village today: “Their right to vote on major issues that are going to impact” the city and its spending, a reference to the city hall project and calls from many residents to take it to a public vote.
Still, Prussing said that Prairie Village voters spoke and the only option now is to “go with the numbers.”
“I think the world of Prairie Village and I hope the best for Prairie Village, and that’s one of the reasons why I ran,” Prussing said.
For the unofficial winners on Tuesday night, the city’s division is top of mind — and the message from voters is much clearer.
Nathan Vallette, a newcomer poised to replace Ward 4 Councilmember Dave Robinson, said he hopes the new council members will help Prairie Village move forward.
“I think there’s no secret that there’s some division in our city,” Vallette said. “I think tonight’s election results kind of show that we have the right people coming into office that will hopefully be able to mend some of those fences.”
The Johnson County Post and The Beacon collaborated on coverage of this year’s Prairie Village City Council election.
