Joseph Shepard, a nonprofit program director and former Sedgwick County Democratic Party chair, was the top vote-getter in the District 1 City Council primary election Tuesday night.
LaWanda DeShazer, a community engagement specialist and former Sedgwick County fire administrator, was second in the balloting. Both Shepard and DeShazer will advance to the general election on Nov. 4.
Shepard, who was endorsed by incumbent District 1 council member Brandon Johnson, finished with 48 percent of the vote in the five-person field. He had more votes than DeShazer (20 percent) and third-place finisher Chris Pumpelly (17 percent) combined.
Johnson is prevented by term limits from running again.
Shepard and DeShazer emerged from a field of five Democrats who spent the summer campaigning to represent Wichita’s north-central district.
Along with Shepard and DeShazer, the candidates were Pumpelly, the campaign manager for former Mayor Brandon Whipple; Aujanae Bennett, a community advocate who’s been central to fighting for health testing for residents impacted by the chemical spill at 29th and Grove, and Darryl Carrington, a community leader in the Fairmount neighborhood.
Johnson has held the seat for the last eight years. Minutes before the filing deadline for candidates on June 2, he issued an endorsement for Shepard.
In his endorsement, Johnson described Shepard as a “trusted advocate” and said that he had a “rare ability to bring people together and fight for those often left behind.”
DeShazer netted major endorsements as well. Kansas State Rep. Ford Carr, who represents much of the area of District 1 in the state legislature, endorsed her in late July.
Carr said in his endorsement message that he was won over by DeShazer’s “spirit of selflessness” and impressed by her educational and professional background, which “provides a perfect platform to ensure that she can step right in without the need for training wheels.”
On primary night, DeShazer said that she felt her performance in the primary — despite Johnson’s endorsement of Shepard — demonstrated a grassroots support in the district for her campaign.
"I didn't have the current city councilman endorsing me,” DeShazer said from her campaign watch party at Love & Co. Kitchen and cocktails. “I had people that were willing to do the work and boots on the ground. Those are the people that I resonated with, and I think I will continue to resonate with moving forward."
DeShazer said the next several months of campaigning will be spent making sure residents understand the differences between her and her opponent. She emphasized a difference in experience, casting herself as a political newcomer.
Some of DeShazer’s supporters have taken a different approach, noting that she was born in the district and owns a home there. Shepard moved to Wichita to attend college at Wichita State University and rents a home in the district.
He said that those critiques, as well as criticism of his personal friendships with conservative members of the City Council, distract from the substance of the campaign.
“Folks are ready to stop the political theater, the partisan bickering, and they want to get things done for their community, for their children, for their grandchildren, for the next generation,” Shepard said. “That's what we want to do."
Shepard says that his primary day performance shows that his proposals around homelessness, affordable housing and community development are resonating.
Neal Allen, an associate professor of political science at Wichita State University, chalks Shepard’s results up to his connection with Wichita’s business community.
“Wichita politics is currently and likely will always be very friendly to real estate developers and any entity that can put forward a claim to grow jobs and to support economic development,” Allen said. “Joseph Shepard, in his campaign, has showed that he will likely be a progressive, but business-friendly Democrat.”
Shepard raised nearly $40,000 in campaign donations to DeShazer’s $9,000 before primary day.
“Joseph Shepard's huge vote totals just shows the power of endorsements and also of money,” Allen said.
