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 in Kansas and the only Libertarian mayor of one of the 100 largest cities in the United States.

Early life and education Wu was born in Antigua, Guatemala, in 1984 to Chinese immigrant parents. The family moved to Wichita in the United States 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. She left KAKE in December 2019, and joined KWCH-DT as an anchor and reporter in June 2020.

Political career Wu attended the Charles Koch Institute and completed a one-year associate program. She was previously a member of the Republican Party but later switched her voter registration to the Libertarian Party in 2022.

Mayor of Wichita 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 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", though the state affiliate Libertarian Party of Kansas released a statement saying she is a, "registered libertarian, but not a recognized candidate."

Tenure Wu was sworn into office on January 8, 2024, in a ceremony at Wichita City Hall. In her first year, in addition to increasing salaries and equipment for police, many of Wu's efforts were aimed at increased transparency, such as spending Mondays with local news to better inform the public, instituting rules for reporting gifts, more clarity on council member travel, and adding opportunities for the public to attend and speak at city council meetings. However, several of her plans were stopped by the city council.

On March 18, 2025, Wu did not read or sign a proclamation passed by the city council which would recognize Transgender Day of Visibility citywide. Despite municipal code requiring the mayor to do so, Wu refused to sign and had a councilmember read the proclamation instead of herself. The Wichita Ethics Board announced it would investigate 10 ethics complaints against Wu centered on the incident the following month. The board found Wu had violated the ethics code "by not reading, and not arranging someone else to read ahead of time," the proclamation but cleared her of the other complaints and did not order her to pay a fine or attend ethics training. Following appeals from both sides, the board affirmed the decision in July.

Elections