WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A panel assessed a radio talk show host $175 for filing what it determined was a baseless challenge to the residency of a Sedgwick County Commission candidate.
The panel unanimously ruled Monday that candidate Sarah Lopez lives in the 2nd District and can stay on the ballot challenging incumbent Michael O’Donnell, the Wichita Eagle reported.
It quickly rejected the complaint against Lopez by KNSS radio host John Whitmer and slapped him with the bill for the time it took to investigate it. Whitmer, a former paid campaign worker for O’Donnell, didn’t appear at the hearing.
District Attorney Marc Bennett, who is a member of the panel, said Whitmer forced an investigation without any tangible evidence and a fee was appropriate “to dissuade that from happening in the future.”
Whitmer, a former state representative and Republican precinct committeeman, alleged Lopez’s name appeared on websites as a Democratic precinct committeewoman for her former neighborhood.
Investigator Kelly Otis testified that all evidence - including utility bills, mail service, rent receipts and a home visit - indicated that Lopez lives at a home in the 2nd District.
Lopez said that she has lived in the home since February. The 2nd District includes Haysville, Clearwater and parts of southwest Sedgwick County.
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