18-04-2025
Tension rises at Sedgwick GOP meeting; censure of council member looms
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Tempers flared at Thursday night's Sedgwick County Republican Party meeting, but no censure was announced against Wichita City Council Member Becky Tuttle.
The chairman of the Sedgwick County Republican Party says the motion to censure — a formal statement expressing the council's disapproval of a member's conduct — did not originate from the party leadership team. Instead, it came from someone who was an elected precinct person.
A resolution posted online says Tuttle did not uphold the core principles of the GOP when she voted in favor of the Transgender Day of Visibility Proclamation. It also discusses other votes she made, including adding the Crown Uptown to the historical registry, as well as using taxpayer money to install bathrooms in a city park and fund public art.
The motion claims that by doing that, she is not aligned with their traditional values.
Council Member Brandon Johnson, who is aligned with the Democratic party, took to Tuttle's defense on social media:
'Actions like the proposed censure of Council Member Tuttle continue to discourage thoughtful good people from running for office, regardless of party, because doing the right thing is hard enough without the misguided and sometimes hateful rhetoric or actions in this case, that come with it,' he said in part. 'My support for Becky is because Becky is a good human and tries to do what is right, even when it is hard.'
A precinct chair took to the microphone directly after it was announced there would be no discussion on the possibility of censuring Tuttle. He said he wanted his voice heard about the process before he was cut short.
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Joseph Texdozier is a Sedgwick County Republican Party precinct committeeman. His statement was cut short as the meeting was voted to adjourn after a tense back-and-forth. He says that after hearing last week, they would discuss the potential censure on Thursday night, he wanted to discuss the proper procedure.
'It's important to have a clear process in place to respect the duly elected responsibilities of precinct chairs in this county and our time,' Texdozier said.
John R. Whitmer, the chair of the SCRP, says that while that was the plan, he believes those in the party who brought the censure, along with Tuttle, should be the ones figuring out the next move.
'I think they were hoping to have the debate and the censure, or at least a discussion on it, but I really felt like that was premature, let's go ahead and have that conversation, and we can move beyond this,' Whitmer said.
He says the right move forward is to work together without censure for now.
'As a republican party, we need Becky Tuttle, we need her to work with the other republicans on the city council,' Whitmer said.
He also said that if a future censure were to be brought and voted through, it would mean a public statement disapproving of Tuttle's votes. He says there are no conditions on the conversations between Tuttle and those bringing the censure to continue the conversation.
KSN has reached out to Tuttle via email, text, and phone, but has yet to hear back.
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