Local elections are nonpartisan by law. So why is the Republican Party campaigning?

Wichita’s local elections are supposed to be nonpartisan, but that hasn’t stopped the local Republican Party from reminding voters who its favored candidates are.

Splashed across the top of a mailer sent out earlier this week by the Sedgwick County Republican party is a message: “Let’s re-elect Republican Mayor Jeff Longwell.”

Lest there be any doubt, the mailer says “Paid for by Sedgwick County Republican Party.”

Longwell is in what is expected to be a close race against Rep. Brandon Whipple, a Democrat.

Longwell isn’t the only Republican in the race. Fellow Republican Lyndy Wells, who was narrowly defeated in the primary by Whipple, is running a late-addition write-in campaign.

Read more: https://www-1.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article236602668.html