By Ben McCarthy
The Leawood City Council will see two new faces added in 2026, as voters elected Matt Peppes to the open Ward 1 seat, and Rachel Rubin took the open seat in Ward 3.
Peppes, who had run unsuccessfully in 2023, campaigned again this time and ran essentially unopposed (opponent Sarah Meuli appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, despite not campaigning after filing for office).
In Ward 2, incumbent Mary Larson did run unopposed, and will return to office next year, as will incumbent Julie Cain, who ran unopposed in Ward 4.
The only real race in question was for an open seat in Ward 3, where Rachel Rubin won decidedly over Mitch Lohr, taking 57% of the vote.
“I’m so honored to be chosen to represent Ward 3 on the Leawood City Council – I could not have won without my steadfast supporters who showed up for me,” Rubin said.
In Prairie Village, efforts to see a massive overhaul of how local government is structured, were defeated. 65% of voters rejected question 1, which would have abandoned the city’s current mayor-council form of government (which has been in place in Prairie Village since the early 1950’s). “PV United” the group behind the effort, also saw their City Council candidates all defeated across six races.
24.39% of registered Johnson County voters turned out to vote.