# Lily Wu

Lily Wu (born 1984) is an American politician and former television news anchor, serving as the 103rd mayor of Wichita, Kansas since 2024. A member of the Libertarian Party, she is the first Asian American mayor of Wichita and the only Libertarian mayor of one of the 100 largest cities in the United States.

## Early life and career

Wu's parents left China to immigrate to the United States and she was born while her parents lived in Antigua Guatemala in 1984. The family moved to Wichita in 1993. Wu graduated from the International Baccalaureate program at Wichita East High School, earned her bachelor's degree in international business and integrated marketing communication from Wichita State University, and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Hong Kong.
Wu joined the news department at KAKE in Wichita as a reporter in 2010. She hosted their morning show from August 2014 to September 2016. She left KAKE in December 2019, and joined KWCH-DT as an anchor and reporter in June 2020. She resigned her position in March 2023 in order to run for mayor.

## Political career

Wu attended the Charles Koch Institute and completed a one-year associate program. She was a member of the Republican Party, but switched her voting registration to the Libertarian Party in 2022.
In April 2023, Wu announced her candidacy in the 2023 non-partisan election for mayor of Wichita. She was endorsed by the Koch brothers' organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Wichita Regional Chamber PAC, the Wichita Fraternal Order of Police, and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Wu raised $440,000, a record amount and number of contributors, and AFP spent an additional $192,000 on her behalf.
Wu finished the primary election in first place and advanced to a runoff election with incumbent mayor Brandon Whipple. She defeated Whipple in the general election, 58% to 42% making her the first Asian American mayor of Wichita, Kansas. Newsweek called her win the Libertarian Party's "Biggest Ever Election Win", but the Libertarian Party of Kansas does not recognize her as an official Libertarian candidate. Wu was sworn into office on January 8, 2024, in a ceremony at Wichita City Hall.
In her first year, Wu's efforts increased salaries for police officers, instituted rules for reporting gifts, and increased the public's opportunities to attend and speak at meetings of the city council. However, several of her plans were stopped by city council.

## Elections

Wichita mayoral election, 2023 :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Lily Wu | 12,217 | 30.0 |
| | Nonpartisan | Brandon Whipple (incumbent) | 9,775 | 24.0 |
| | Nonpartisan | Bryan Frye | 9,070 | 22.3 |
| | Nonpartisan | Celeste Racette | 6,831 | 16.8 |
| | Nonpartisan | Jared Cerullo | 1,870 | 4.6 |
| | Nonpartisan | Shelia M Davis (Rainman) | 254 | 0.6 |
| | Nonpartisan | Julie Rose Stroud | 246 | 0.6 |
| | Nonpartisan | Tom Kane | 220 | 0.6 |
| | Nonpartisan | Anthony Gallardo | 182 | 0.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 40,665 | 100.0 |
| General election |||||
| | Nonpartisan | Lily Wu | 37,004 | 57.6 |
| | Nonpartisan | Brandon Whipple (incumbent) | 26,841 | 41.8 |
| | Nonpartisan | Write-in | 415 | 0.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 64,260 | 100.0 |