2 August 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Incumbent Brandon Whipple and Lily Wu will go against each other in the November general election.
Wichita voters whittled down nine candidates to just the two.
Some of the other seven candidates spoke out after the primary election results were in.
Bryan Frye
“It’s been a hard-fought campaign,” said Bryan Frye. “Obviously, we didn’t expect this to be the result to come so close to finishing in the top two. It’s certainly disappointing, but we have no regrets about the type of campaign we ran. We had amazing support from people all across the city, just a little disappointing how the results finished.”
Unofficially, Wu had 11,763 votes, Whipple had 9,253 votes, and Frye had 8,855 votes.
Frye will continue to serve as a city councilman for the next five months. He has served as a councilman for the last eight years.
“I will do that to the highest ability I can,” said Frye.
Frye says he will continue to work at his full-time job and be active in the community with his small business.
As for Whipple and Wu, Frye says, “I hope they continue to pay attention to what the public is saying, what our neighbors are wanting.”
Celeste Racette
Celests Racette thanked those who voted for her for their support.
“They heard what I tried to say, that I would represent them, I would be their financial watchdog to those people who voted they’re exercising their right. I say kudos to you. Thank you for your support,” said Racette.
Unofficially, Racette had 6,594 votes.
Racette says she does not know what she will do next.
“I’ve tried for the past four years to speak out at city council to represent taxpayers. So, if they don’t come behind me in this race, I don’t know. I’ll have to consider whether I do more or not. I really tried hard to represent Wichitans,” said Racette.
As for Whipple and Wu, Racette says, “It’s really important to listen to the Wichitans.”