One Wichita-area incumbent in Kansas House falls in primary race, another hangs onto seat

The most competitive legislative race in the Wichita area ended Tuesday with the incumbent losing her seat.

Cheryl Helmer, a Mulvane Republican who is a controversial figure in Kansas politics, lost her District 79 primary race to challenger Webster T. Roth, a Winfield Republican.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the tally stood at 1,908 to 2,223 votes in favor of Webster, a political newcomer who is a substitute teacher and owns Roth Auction Service in Winfield. The breakdown was 46% to 54%.

Roth will face off in November’s general election against Democrat Kris Trimmer, a former Winfield High School teacher who toppled her primary opponent, Cristel Heffron Love, with 80% of the vote.

Helmer, who has been in the Kansas House since 2018, said Wednesday by phone that she was saddened by the election results.

She has made headlines in recent years for falsely labeling Wichita as a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants, leveling transphobic attacks on the state’s first openly transgender legislator and co-sponsoring model legislation backed by special interest groups that would require schools and other government buildings to display the religious motto “In God We Trust,” according to The Eagle’s news archives.

“Today is a time of grief and shock. I didn’t expect it,” Helmer said of her loss, adding that she’s leaving behind “a lot of unfinished business” that includes work on a bill to eliminate taxes for people receiving Social Security and other items aimed at helping seniors and children in foster care.

“I really, really loved serving the people of my District 79 and working with them,” she said.

District 79, located south of Wichita in Sumner and Cowley counties, is newly expanded and includes residents from Arkansas City, Belle Plaine, Mayfield, Milton, Mulvane, Oxford, Peck, Rock, Udall and Wellington.

“I’m really sad that it came to an end like this, and I just hope that Webster can figure out what’s right and wrong and make the right votes.”

Helmer, who said she plans to look for other ways to serve the community that may include future runs for public office, attributed her loss to her opponent’s backing.

But Roth said he thinks voters were ready for a change.

He said if he’s elected in November, he will bring “positive momentum and energy to the Statehouse” and fulfill his campaign promise of working hard “for everybody in the district” including large and small businesses, individuals and families.

“I look forward to serving the people of the 79th District with all my heart, soul and everything in me.”

Trimmer said Wednesday by phone that Heffron Love was a competent opponent and that she thinks being a longtime teacher in the area plus name recognition from her husband, Ed Trimmer, who previously served in the Legislature, helped her win.

Leading up to the general election, she plans to talk to residents and businesses in her district “to get a feel for the goals that they’d like to see happen in Topeka.”

“That 80% means I have to work hard to keep that trust,” Trimmer said.

District 101 primary results

The other contested Wichita-area legislative primary race, in District 101, ended with a win for Republican incumbent Joe Seiwert, who easily fended off challenger Jamey Lee Blubaugh with 71% of the vote.

Blubaugh, a former mayor of Goddard, resigned from his seat in 2020 just two days before he was arrested and charged with counterfeiting passes to the Sedgwick County Zoo’s annual Zoobilee charity fundraiser event along with his wife, Elizabeth. Both were granted diversions that resulted in the dismissal of their criminal charges earlier this year.

Tuesday’s race wasn’t the first time Seiwert faced off with Blubaugh. The Pretty Prairie Republican defeated Blubaugh and another candidate in the 2012 Republican primary.

Seiwert is expected to be re-elected because he has no Democratic opponent in November.

House District 101 covers a small part of southwest Wichita and several small towns in western Sedgwick and eastern Reno counties.

Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Wichita Eagle