Democrat’s playbook wins in Wichita

Wichita’s mayoral election is supposed to be nonpartisan, but that virtually disappeared in this year’s campaign. Mayor-elect Brandon Whipple has served since 2012 as a Democratic member of the statehouse. Before that, he was vice-chair of the Sedgwick County Democratic Party. His winning strategy came straight from the Kansas Democrats’ playbook.Whipple downplayed his party affiliation and played up accountability and good government, while the city’s Republican establishment tried to throw their weight behind incumbent Jeff Longwell.  Whipple’s upset looks remarkably similar to…