(SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan.) — Karl Peterjohn will remain the District III Sedgwick County Commissioner. He won with 56% of the votes. Jeff Longwell had 43% percent of the vote.
Peterjohn received 6,928 votes and Longwell received 5,304 votes. There is not a Democratic candidate for this race, so Peterjohn will not face an opponent in November.
District III is the largest of the county commision districts as far as area. It covers almost the entire western half of the county including the cities of Andale, Colwich, Mount Hope, Bentley, Cheney, Garden Plain and Goddard. All county commission districts are roughly equal in population.
Both men consider themselves social and fiscal conservatives. The main difference between them comes down to two things, taxes and incentives.
Peterjohn calls himself a constitutional conservative who believes in requiring voter approval for any tax increase. Peterjohn says he's also against using government incentives to lure businesses to town and using taxpayer money to support private industry.
Longwell is currently on the Wichita City Council and will keep his seat. He says incentives to lure businesses have become standard practice everywhere else. He says in order to compete, Wichita and Sedgwick County need to do the same thing.
