Wichita voters ousted two state House incumbents in Tuesday's primary election.
In District 84 in northeast Wichita, Bonita Gooch won 70% of the votes in a race against Rep. Ford Carr.
Both candidates are established members of their community: Carr has represented the district for four years, and Gooch publishes The Community Voice, a prominent Black newspaper.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the candidates touted their connections to the late Gail Finney, who represented the district for 13 years before she died in 2022. Finney tapped Carr to be her successor, and he has styled himself as a passionate defender of her legacy.
Gooch highlighted her connection to Finney through her involvement in the Kansas Black Leadership Council, of which she and Finney were founding members.
Gooch said she decided to run following a string of controversies involving Carr, most notably a 2025 physical altercation between Carr and then-City Council member Brandon Johnson that was caught on video.
Gooch said she had “no hard feelings” toward Carr and hoped he and his supporters would “get on the train and all work together for the community.”
Carr congratulated Gooch in a Facebook post late Tuesday, writing, “Shout out to Bonita Gooch and all the other primary winners. Hat tip.”
With five months until she is sworn in, Gooch said she is now focused on balancing her responsibilities as a newspaper publisher with those of a legislator and learning more about the issues her constituents want her to address.
“One thing I really am committed to doing is having meetings with members of the community,” she said. “I have some knowledge of issues, but I need to get more. … There's something I don't know, and I need to learn.”
In House District 83, Brandon Whipple’s bid to return to office will advance to the general election, after winning 60% of the vote against incumbent Henry Helgerson. The district includes Eastborough and parts of east Wichita.
Whipple was most recently mayor of Wichita from 2020 to 2024, losing re-election to current Mayor Lily Wu.
Whipple’s last stint in the Statehouse was representing District 96, a pocket of south-central Wichita, from 2013 to 2020.
Whipple will face Republican Zachary Werhan in November.
Jessica Pearce is a Report for America corps member and a civics reporter for The Journal, published by the Kansas Leadership Center. Stefania Lugli is The Journal’s Senior Reporter.