Dec 21, 2020

Lawsuit over false ad in Kan. mayor's race moving forward

Posted Dec 21, 2020 8:00 PM
From left: Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell, Kansas House Rep. Michael Capps and Wichita City Councilman James Clendenin. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
From left: Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell, Kansas House Rep. Michael Capps and Wichita City Councilman James Clendenin. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by Wichita’s mayor against three GOP officials who were behind a smear campaign against the mayor will be allowed to move forward after a judge rejected a motion to dismiss it.

The lawsuit is related to an ad published on YouTube during the mayoral election last year that falsely suggested that Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple was accused of sexual harassment when he served in the Kansas Legislature.

In a recording from last year that was released this fall, Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell, Wichita City Council member James Clendenin and state Rep. Michael Capp can be heard plotting to frame Sedgwick County Republican Party Chairman Dalton Glasscock for the smear video.