Lily Wu—a 39-year-old immigrant, political novice, and registered member of the Libertarian Get together—has simply been elected mayor of Wichita, Kansas, one of many 50 largest cities in the USA.
Wu, who will grow to be the primary Asian-American mayor in Wichita’s 153-year historical past, arrived in the USA from Guatemala when she was simply 8 years previous. The primary individual in her household to attend faculty, she graduated from Wichita State College with worldwide enterprise and advertising and marketing levels. For the previous 12 years, she’s been a neighborhood tv reporter, a profession she says was impressed by the truth that she realized English by watching the information.
In her first foray into politics, Wu defeated incumbent Mayor Brandon Whipple by greater than 10,000 votes and 16 share factors. In her victory speech on Tuesday evening, Wu careworn the significance of creating the federal government “more responsible with the money that is being sorted to us for taxpayers”—a message that can sound acquainted to many libertarians.
Different elements of her marketing campaign, nonetheless, have drawn criticism from the Kansas Libertarian Get together, notably her plan to rent extra cops in Wichita. “Make no mistake: Lily Wu just isn’t related or engaged with this occasion,” the state occasion tweeted on Wednesday, even because the national Libertarian Party celebrated her success. (Wu was additionally backed by a political motion committee related to the free market group People for Prosperity.)
In a extra diplomatic assertion, Tim Giblin, chairman of the Libertarian Get together of Kansas, mentioned Wu was a “registered libertarian, but not a recognized candidate” of the state occasion. Whereas acknowledging that Wu’s victory introduced extra public consideration to the occasion, Giblin additionally mentioned his group “will be watching closely and loudly. Lily had no problem using our banner as a stepping stone throughout her campaign. We intend to hold her to that.”
Wichita’s mayoral elections are nonpartisan, so Wu did not want the nomination of the Libertarian Get together to get on the poll. She actually is not the primary former Republican to flee that occasion. And these internecine fights over who counts as an actual libertarian are nothing new, in fact.
Nonetheless, we wished to resolve it. So Motive caught up with Wu on Thursday night to ask about her political beliefs, why she determined to run for mayor, and what she plans to do now that she’s gained.
This interview has been edited for size and readability
Motive: What was your message to voters—the “elevator pitch” when you might have simply 30 seconds to satisfy somebody and persuade them to assist you?
Lily Wu: I all the time say that it is necessary to get again to some fundamentals in Wichita and actually discuss concerning the core providers that native authorities ought to concentrate on. It is about guaranteeing public security, rising our financial system, restoring belief in metropolis corridor, and constructing a united group. The mayor’s race is nonpartisan, so I actually imagine that you must be a bridge builder and consensus builder to attempt to carry of us collectively on an agenda that may transfer ahead to grow to be one of the best place to stay, work, and lift a household.
Motive: You have taken some warmth from the Kansas Libertarian Get together over whether or not that message makes you an actual libertarian. Are you?
Wu: I’m a libertarian. I imagine in freedom, and I imagine in private accountability.
For a few years, I’ve heard loads of dissatisfaction with the hyperpolarization that has occurred in America. It has seeped into native politics the place we have grow to be very divided So, I selected to grow to be a registered Libertarian, as a result of I imagine that speaks to my private beliefs and the freedoms of America.
However I did not talk about being a Libertarian all through the race, as a result of it’s a nonpartisan race. Oftentimes folks would simply ask, “Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” And I might proudly say, “I’m a citizen, because I would love to serve all of Wichita.” And I imagine that that’s the position of being a mayor of the most important metropolis within the state of Kansas is actually representing all communities.
Motive: Are you able to spell out what being a libertarian means to you?
Wu: Being a classical liberal. Believing in private freedom. I imagine in empowering the person and restricted authorities. I selected to grow to be a Libertarian on my registration as a result of it spoke to who I used to be.
Motive: Though this was technically a nonpartisan race, do you suppose your success says one thing about voters’ willingness to see previous the duopoly of Republicans and Democrats?
Wu: I’ve heard it all through this marketing campaign: Individuals are bored with the partisan bickering and the hyper-division. In Wichita, I am an impartial voice. That speaks to loads of, particularly, younger professionals in our group. We are able to suppose for ourselves.
Motive: What do you need to accomplish as mayor? Are there just a few huge targets you might have?
Wu: On the high is the workforce. Now we have financial alternatives proper now inside our group. Now we have a beautiful aerospace trade, however we are also searching for further industries that may be strengthened. So the very very first thing that I wish to do is carry extra of us collectively on these financial alternatives—bringing native authorities, schooling, and the enterprise sector collectively to offer these job alternatives, and that expertise pipeline that we’d like.
After which, above the whole lot else, we as a neighborhood authorities have to offer the core providers for our group. These embody police, fireplace, and infrastructure. Make it possible for we do a very good job with these, so that individuals will need to proceed staying in Wichita and selecting to come back to Wichita.
Public security must be the primary factor that we work on collectively. And I say that the very very first thing that we will do is concentrate on rebuilding a number of the relationships which have been fractured between the mayor’s workplace, the police division, and the group.
Motive: There are actually some libertarians who would say {that a} concentrate on policing, and on hiring extra law enforcement officials, just isn’t a limited-government message. Inform me why you suppose it’s.
Wu: At the moment the Wichita Police Division faces a 110-officer scarcity. We even have one other 100 officers who can be eligible for retirement. As well as, there was a survey of over 400 officers, and 70 p.c have checked out one other job within the final 12 months. So we now have a recruitment and retention disaster inside our police division. I imagine that what must occur is ensuring that the police division we presently have, the officers that we need to fill these positions, know that they’ve a mayor who’s supportive of them by way of respect and assets.
Motive: What about ensuring law enforcement officials are held accountable once they violate the legislation or somebody’s rights? Is there something you may look to do in that regard?
Wu: As a reporter for the previous 12 years, I’ve had the chance to share not simply tales that had been constructive in our group, but additionally the challenges in our group—together with holding public officers accountable and officers accountable. I imagine that accountability must be one thing that we concentrate on.
Certainly one of my three pillars is restoring belief in metropolis corridor. We have to do a greater job of serving to our group perceive how native authorities works, and the way public servants are serving to our group. When there are officers, if they’ve violated the due course of of people, additionally they have due course of. But in addition we have to maintain them accountable.
Motive: You grew up in Wichita as an immigrant and as a baby of immigrants. How has that formed the best way you see the world and your politics?
Wu: I am simply so grateful that my dad and mom had this dream of sooner or later coming to America. I used to be born and raised in Guatemala, however my dad and mom are from China. That they had that dream, even earlier than my brother and I had been born, that they wished to come back to America. And as soon as we had been born, they knew that they wished to come back to America to offer their children with higher alternatives—particularly, academic alternatives.
I am actually grateful that we had been in a position to come to America. I am proud to be an immigrant. I imagine that what we now have that’s actually what makes Wichita so particular are people in our group—people who find themselves academics and mentors who need to assist. Serving to an immigrant household like ours get on their ft and be capable to discover alternatives, after which we ran with them. In Witchita, something is feasible.
Motive: I doubt that lots of our readers are that acquainted with Wichita, so here is my closing query. Fill within the clean: “The best ______ in Wichita is…”
Wu: One of the best competition in Wichita is the Wichita Asian Pageant. Asian People in our group come from anyplace—from Lebanon to India to China to Japan—and our competition has been happening for greater than 40 years. We carry folks collectively each single yr to showcase the range of culinary arts and performing arts, so that individuals can take pleasure in Asia proper right here within the heartland.
