Wichita resident and Derby city attorney Jacqueline Kelly was the winner of Tuesday’s only competitive Sedgwick County District Court judge primary — in Division 14.
She beat out three other candidates — Clark V. Owens of Wichita, a former 18th Judicial District judge who hoped to reclaim a seat on the bench; Jarrod Kieffer, a private-practice lawyer from Bel Aire; and Joshua Wright, a Reno County public defender who lives in Bel Aire.
According to unofficial final election results, Kelly earned 8,315 votes to Owens’ 6,232, Kieffer’s 5,006 and Wright’s 1,895.
“It was a pretty strong race run by everybody,” Kelly said after the results were announced late Tuesday. “It was a contentious race. I did not expect anything other than I knew I had worked hard and had my supporters and volunteers working hard as well.”
Kelly now will have a clear path to replacing retiring Judge Patrick Walters in Division 14. No Democrats filed to run for the judgeship, leaving it up to four Republican candidates to fight it out in the primary.