A look at the candidates running for KCMO mayor and city council races

South KC Perspective

By John Sharp

Election authorities now have certified that these candidates for KCMO mayor and city council submitted enough valid signatures of city voters to be on the April 4 city primary election ballot.

The top two vote getters in each race will advance to the June 20 city general election, and the winners of that election will take office on August 1.

City council candidates will be running in new council district boundaries as a result of council redistricting approved in late 2021 to more nearly equalize council district populations based on the 2020 census.

Two candidates have no opposition – Wes Rogers, a former two-term Missouri state representative who held that office until the first of this year who is running for the  2nd District-in-District seat, and incumbent Ryana Parks-Shaw who is running for reelection for the 5th District-in-District seat.

In races where there are only two candidates, both will advance to the general election unless there is a stunning upset by a write-in candidate which hardly ever happens.  Even though they are all but assured of advancing, candidates in two-person primaries usually campaign very hard since campaign contributions often dry up for candidates who are soundly defeated in a primary. 

The candidates for mayor and the six at-large council seats that run citywide are:

Mayor – incumbent Quinton Lucas and challenger Clay Chastain

1st District-at-Large – incumbent Kevin O’Neill and challengers Pam Mason and Ronda Smith

2nd District-at-Large (open seat) – Lindsay French, Jenay Manley and Mickey Younghanz

3rd District-at-Large – incumbent Brandon R. Ellington and challenger Melissa Patterson Hazley

4th District-at-Large (open seat) – Jess Blubaugh, Grace Cabrera, John D. Di Capo, Crispin Rea and Justin M. Short

5th District-at-Large (open seat) – Darrell Curls, Theresa Cass Galvin and Michael Kelley

6th District-at-Large – incumbent Andrea Bough and challengers Mary Nestel and Jill Sasse 

The candidates for the two in-district council seats that cover south Kansas City are:

5th District-in-District – incumbent Ryana Parks-Shaw

6th District-in-District (open seat) Cecelia Carter, Johnathan Duncan, Tiffany Moore, Michael Schuckman and Dan T. Tarwater III