BY RON SYLVESTER AND JOE RODRIGUEZ
The Wichita Eagle
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The only woman on the Sedgwick County judicial bench held onto a slim lead over her Democratic rival to win her primary race tonight.
Rebecca Pilshaw, a judge since 1993, won by 248 votes in the unofficial count -- a slim 3 percent margin over challenger Ross Alexander.
It marked the third time in four years an incumbent judge faced primary opposition in a Sedgwick County election, but Pilshaw was the first to win.
Pilshaw must now beat Republican J. Patrick Walters in November's general election to retain the office.
"I knew it would be a close race," Alexander said. "But apparently the Democratic voters in Sedgwick County want to keep her as a judge."
Pilshaw has had a rocky term the past four years. She received three disciplinary sanctions from the state judicial ethics commission. She also earned the lowest evaluation by lawyers in surveys conducted in 2006 and this year by The Eagle and the Wichita Bar Association.
Pilshaw declined to comment on the race and did not return a phone call from The Eagle.
"I have nothing to say to you guys," she said earlier in the day, when asked where she could be contacted.
Journey, Brown win
Wichita Municipal Judge Bruce Brown, and State Sen. Phil Journey both defeated opponents who outspent them on their campaigns.
Brown defeated Sean Corrigan McEnulty in the county's most expensive race for any office.
McEnulty spent more than $ $45,000 to Brown's $28,000.
But Brown earned 60 percent of the vote to win the primary.
"I'm humbled at winning and humbled at the margin," Brown said. "Mr. McEnulty waged a tough campaign, and made some strategic advertising."
McEnulty said Brown "just outworked" him.
"He got out and just knocked, knocked, knocked on the doors," McEnulty said.
Journey said he watched Jeff Dewey spend double what the former legislator did in their race.
"About all I could do was direct mail and some limited cable buys," Journey said of his advertising. "But I think this shows a lot of people have been impressed with the work I've done in Topeka, and they know what I stand for because of my work in the Legislature."
Journey is trying to join a line of former lawmakers who have run for the Sedgwick County bench. Legislative experience helped Eric Yost, Anthony Powell and Jeff Goering win their judicial elections.
"But I don't think the voters are going to vote on name recognition alone," said Democrat Carol Bacon, who will face Journey in the general election.
Bacon defeated Derby lawyer Richard Sanborn with 60 percent of the vote. Bacon said she'll campaign on her previous experience as a district judge dating back to 1992 and her present temporary assignments to hear cases in Wichita Municipal Court and Sedgwick County District Court.
New judicial seats
The ballot also included two new seats approved by the Kansas Supreme Court and funded by the Legislature this spring. They were added to help lighten the caseload in the state's largest court district. At least one of the new seats is planned for juvenile court.
Jeff Syrios took 59 percent of the vote over Harold Pickler in the Republican primary for the first new seat. Syrios will face Democrat Jama D. Mitchell, who was unopposed in the primary.
Syrios cited his door-to-door campaigning and name recognition as factors in his victory.
As for the general election: "I'm just going to approach it the same way -- to get the word out, to activate our volunteer base again, to rely on the friends and the support of the people around me, and work even harder."
For the second new seat, Eric Commer won 54 percent to take the Republican primary over Jeff VanZandt.
Commer said he thought his experience in family law made the difference.
"I think it is helpful to have those judges who are most willing to help in that (family law) department," he said.
On the Democratic side, Michael Foster won handily with 61 percent of the vote over Don W. Riley.
Foster, an attorney since 1973, switched parties to run for office. He said he doesn't believe party affiliation should have an effect on a judicial race.
"I don't think any of the judicial candidates should be running for this office or applying for this job to pursue a political agenda at all," he said.
