Libertarians look likely to win a big city mayoral race

[Spectator]

In Wichita, KS where incumbent Brandon Whipple (D) has had some high profile gaffes and missteps, notably a Karen-type incident with local police.

https://amp.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article280635930.html

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Wu would be the first large city mayor in a Non-coastal state right?

[Lambsbread]

The article you shared indicates that the party can’t even get the candidate to show up to events and debates with the incumbent. How exactly does that put her in prime position to unseat the incumbent…? I mean I know politicians can win without debating but it sounds like even the Libertarian Party is kind of okay with the current mayor:

”When it comes down to her platforms, those don’t always align [with the Libertarian Party],” Hayse said. “But then we have somebody in Brandon (Whipple) that is not actually registered with our party but he has worked with several of us on issues like the decriminalization of cannabis and other things and he has come to events before.”

Edit: I didn’t realize there was a primary earlier this year where she received a higher vote share than Whipple, my bad. Still I don’t know how well that strategy will play out in the runoff.

[Ferguson97]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

[Minnesota Mike]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

Wichita has a population of 400K and is in the top 50 in population in the US, I would call it a big city.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

Wichita has a population of 400K and is in the top 50 in population in the US, I would call it a big city.

There are a lot of "Middle American" cities that don't have what people from the coasts think of as big city vibes but are way more populous and more economically significant than most of us tend to assume. Kansas City, Omaha, and various Midwestern state capitals like Indianapolis and Columbus come to mind as other examples of this.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

Wichita has a population of 400K and is in the top 50 in population in the US, I would call it a big city.

There are a lot of "Middle American" cities that don't have what people from the coasts think of as big city vibes but are way more populous and more economically significant than most of us tend to assume. Kansas City, Omaha, and various Midwestern state capitals like Indianapolis and Columbus come to mind as other examples of this.

I think the issue is more that a “city” genuinely means nothing in American government as each individual city has a unique government. There is also the issue of MSA vs. City limits, which again are pretty useless when looking across cities as some have very confined borders and dozens of suburbs, like Los Angeles, or are massive and take in most of their suburbs, like Houston.

Wichita, by MSA, is 90th, in the area of Rochester, NY and Jackson, MS. So not insignificant, but not the top 50.

There’s also “prominence”. If you dropped Newark in western Kansas it’d be a mecca for the region, and prominently displayed on maps. But, since it’s so close to NYC most people don’t know it exists.

[Reactionary Libertarian]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

Wichita has a population of 400K and is in the top 50 in population in the US, I would call it a big city.

There are a lot of "Middle American" cities that don't have what people from the coasts think of as big city vibes but are way more populous and more economically significant than most of us tend to assume. Kansas City, Omaha, and various Midwestern state capitals like Indianapolis and Columbus come to mind as other examples of this.

I think the issue is more that a “city” genuinely means nothing in American government as each individual city has a unique government. There is also the issue of MSA vs. City limits, which again are pretty useless when looking across cities as some have very confined borders and dozens of suburbs, like Los Angeles, or are massive and take in most of their suburbs, like Houston.

Wichita, by MSA, is 90th, in the area of Rochester, NY and Jackson, MS. So not insignificant, but not the top 50.

There’s also “prominence”. If you dropped Newark in western Kansas it’d be a mecca for the region, and prominently displayed on maps. But, since it’s so close to NYC most people don’t know it exists.

I'd hesitate to ever call Newark a Mecca.

[The Arizonan]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

Wichita has a population of 400K and is in the top 50 in population in the US, I would call it a big city.

There are a lot of "Middle American" cities that don't have what people from the coasts think of as big city vibes but are way more populous and more economically significant than most of us tend to assume. Kansas City, Omaha, and various Midwestern state capitals like Indianapolis and Columbus come to mind as other examples of this.

I think the issue is more that a “city” genuinely means nothing in American government as each individual city has a unique government. There is also the issue of MSA vs. City limits, which again are pretty useless when looking across cities as some have very confined borders and dozens of suburbs, like Los Angeles, or are massive and take in most of their suburbs, like Houston.

Wichita, by MSA, is 90th, in the area of Rochester, NY and Jackson, MS. So not insignificant, but not the top 50.

There’s also “prominence”. If you dropped Newark in western Kansas it’d be a mecca for the region, and prominently displayed on maps. But, since it’s so close to NYC most people don’t know it exists.

I'd hesitate to ever call Newark a Mecca.

Heh. Mesa, Arizona is larger than Newark.

[lfromnj]

Why are you looking at metro area for a mayoral race when the number of people in the city is what matters ?

[PSOL]

Libertarian Party Scores Biggest Ever Election Win

[Badger]

Not only does her website unsurprisingly not declare her libertarian affiliation, there's literally nothing in her policy positions which seem libertarian at all other than a generic statement against raising taxes on working families.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

She has an interesting background, she seems to be of Chinese ancestry but was born in Guatemala(?)

[DrScholl]

A municipal position is one where libertarian economic policy is especially unworkable. Spending money is the biggest part of the job because city government's main function is to provide services. If she wanted to have a chance she was definitely going to avoid ideas like privatizing public services and sharply cutting spending. People love city services more than anything else and will throw a fit if they are threatened.

[Vosem]

A municipal position is one where libertarian economic policy is especially unworkable. Spending money is the biggest part of the job because city government's main function is to provide services. If she wanted to have a chance she was definitely going to avoid ideas like privatizing public services and sharply cutting spending. People love city services more than anything else and will throw a fit if they are threatened.

I have not met these people

Anyway, my understanding is that Wu is basically just a socially liberal Republican, not someone ideologically committed to destroying public services. (That would be the possible next President of Argentina you're thinking of). Also as I've discussed previously the Libertarian Party is basically a subculture and it has many more Christmas-and-Easter libertarians than you would think; many of the most ideological libertarians actually join the Republican Party.

In general, control over the Libertarian Party has oscillated before between 'surprisingly quite culturally right-wing' (1988/1992/2004) and 'not really all that culturally right-wing' (other years); the former takes control occasionally but the latter tends to win more often, because the former -- while it can usually command greater numbers in the electorate, actually -- tends to get distracted and joins the GOP or other right-wing parties. (Also, the latter is a political machine but very much also a subculture, in which at this point people have, like, grown up and married. It is more committed to the organization but less committed to the ideology than you'd expect and contains a number of, like, 'Christmas and Easter' libertarians.)

[xavier110]

This is the Kochs’ backyard. AFP went all in for Wu here. Shouldn’t be seen as some third party underdog triumph.

[DrScholl]

A municipal position is one where libertarian economic policy is especially unworkable. Spending money is the biggest part of the job because city government's main function is to provide services. If she wanted to have a chance she was definitely going to avoid ideas like privatizing public services and sharply cutting spending. People love city services more than anything else and will throw a fit if they are threatened.

I have not met these people

Then you don't spend much time paying attention to local government. Street paving is incredibly popular and where I live the city got pushback for using a cheaper method. Then there's trash services, street lights, police, fire, etc.

[Ferguson97]

Calling Wichita a "big city" is very generous, but interesting nonetheless.

Wichita has a population of 400K and is in the top 50 in population in the US, I would call it a big city.

Having a large population is necessary, but insufficient to be classified as a "big city". For example, even though the two have very similar populations, Atlanta and Miami are "big cities", but Wichita is not.

You also have to have a distinct culture. Atlanta and Miami have culture. Wichita does not.

[Minnesota Mike]

You also have to have a distinct culture. Atlanta and Miami have culture. Wichita does not.

Strongly disagree. I'm not a fan of subjective criteria such as "culture". I think you are penalizing Wichita because it is in flyover land. To me the only question is what population threshold you use in defining a major city.

[Badger]

A municipal position is one where libertarian economic policy is especially unworkable. Spending money is the biggest part of the job because city government's main function is to provide services. If she wanted to have a chance she was definitely going to avoid ideas like privatizing public services and sharply cutting spending. People love city services more than anything else and will throw a fit if they are threatened.

I have not met these people

Then you don't spend much time paying attention to local government. Street paving is incredibly popular and where I live there city got pushback for using a cheaper method. Then there's trash services, street lights, police, fire, etc.

I think he was merely poking fun at your somewhat hyperbolic statement that there are some people who love city services more than anything in their lives.

Your point is well taken, but as noted in an earlier post looking at Wu's campaign website she talks about strengthening city services making sure firefighters and police get all the support they need, working to support City businesses, etc. She's indeed sounds like Vosem's description of a generic moderate to conservative republican.

[wnwnwn]

She will likely govern as a moderate clasical liberal / continental liberal.

[Tekken_Guy]

Do you think she could run for congress when Estes retires?

[DrScholl]

A municipal position is one where libertarian economic policy is especially unworkable. Spending money is the biggest part of the job because city government's main function is to provide services. If she wanted to have a chance she was definitely going to avoid ideas like privatizing public services and sharply cutting spending. People love city services more than anything else and will throw a fit if they are threatened.

I have not met these people

Then you don't spend much time paying attention to local government. Street paving is incredibly popular and where I live there city got pushback for using a cheaper method. Then there's trash services, street lights, police, fire, etc.

I think he was merely poking fun at your somewhat hyperbolic statement that there are some people who love city services more than anything in their lives.

Your point is well taken, but as noted in an earlier post looking at Wu's campaign website she talks about strengthening city services making sure firefighters and police get all the support they need, working to support City businesses, etc. She's indeed sounds like Vosem's description of a generic moderate to conservative republican.

I never said "more than anything in their lives", I meant more than anything else when it comes to local politics and selecting politicians. When it comes to city government they often prioritize those issues over the national ones. But next time I'll remember to break down my posts very literally so no one gets confused. And please don't misinterpret my post, I never accused Wu of running a campaign on cutting services. My statement was based on the fact that she didn't run a Libertarian campaign based on deep cuts, because that wouldn't work at the city level.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

She has an interesting background, she seems to be of Chinese ancestry but was born in Guatemala(?)

More of these than one might expect. Human rights campaigners Myrna Mack Chang and Helen Mack Chang are other examples, as well as Kevin de León’s father.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

FWIW Wichita is one of those cities where the mayor is really just an extra city council member with some ceremonial duties and the city manager really runs things. So she probably won't have much influence regardless.