In 2023, the Prairie Village City Council elections centered on a controversial set of housing recommendations that divided the city, creating tension inside council chambers, on social media and among neighbors.

Two years later in 2025, a new round of city council elections hinged largely on the city’s $30 million municipal complex project, as well as an attempt, leftover from 2023’s fight, to “abandon” the city’s form of government.

Now, some prominent players from those two prior electoral battles are taking sides in the city’s lone election on this November’s ballot: deciding who will be the city’s next mayor.

On one hand, Ward 1 Councilmember Cole Robinson touts the endorsements from nine of 12 current councilmembers, including six who swept to victory last year, as well as the backing of outgoing Mayor Eric Mikkelson, former mayors and even a former state governor. On his campaign finance report, a local carpenters’ union and a Kansas City-area realtors trade association are two of Robinson’s biggest financial supporters.

On the other hand, Ward 2 Councilmember Inga Selders characterizes her campaign support as “grassroots,” coming from a smaller set of friends, family and individual donors — several of whom are from out of state, like a marijuana gummies company owner in Kentucky. She is also being cheered on by PV United, a controversial citizen-led group at the heart of the last two elections, even though she claims no official endorsement from them.

Past city council elections centered on controversial issues

The past two city council elections were colored by deep divisions throughout Prairie Village, sparked by the city’s housing debate of 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, four of the six candidates backed by the group Prairie Village United, also known as Stop Rezoning Prairie Village, won their elections, signaling residents’ support for the group’s main issue: opposing the city’s tentative moves to address housing and zoning reform.

PV United, a grassroots organization of residents, opposed the city’s housing recommendations in 2022. In 2023, alongside the city council elections, the group circulated three petitions: one that would have limited rezoning and two that called to strip the city’s form of government and reshape it.

After its electoral victories in 2023, PV United shifted its focus to the city’s $30 million municipal complex project.

In 2025, six city council seats were up for grabs, with all six races featuring one candidate who supported the project and another candidate who opposed it or at least wanted to see residents be able to vote on the project.

At the same time, Prairie Village residents also were asked to weigh in on a ballot issue asking whether the city should “abandon” its municipal form of government, potentially in favor of one that featured a smaller city council and a less powerful mayor.

All six candidates who supported the city hall project and who opposed the “abandon” petition, including Robinson himself, won their races, amounting to a whiplash defeat for PV United, which had backed the other six candidates.

Voters also overwhelmingly rejected the question to “abandon” the city’s form of government by nearly 30 percentage points, with the “no” votes receiving 64.8% of the total count and “yes” votes receiving 35.2% of the total count.

Who’s backing Robinson?

At a public forum earlier this month hosted by the Post at Meadowbrook Clubhouse, Robinson said he had the support of a supermajority of the current city council. He has since added the endorsement of outgoing Mayor Mikkelson.

Robinson said the nine councilmembers who have endorsed him — including the five others, besides himself, who rode the pro-city hall project wave last year — would not have done so if they felt they would be unable to act independently under his leadership.

“There’s no one who knows Inga and I better than these other 10 on the council,” Robinson said. “The fact that nine out of the 10 have a strong feeling about who they want chairing the meetings moving forward does speak volumes.”

For Councilmember Ian Graves, most of the city council’s endorsement of Robinson “is pretty telling.”

Last week, Mikkelson also officially endorsed Robinson as well. Mikkelson said he knows “what this job demands” following his 12 years serving the city, describing Robinson as “tested, cool under pressure, and respected by colleagues and staff.”

“Prairie Village is at a high point, and I’m confident it will continue its exceptionalism and steady progress in Cole’s hands,” Mikkelson said. “I’m proud to endorse him for Mayor.”

Besides the two candidates themselves, Councilmember Nick Reddell is the only other current governing body member who has not endorsed either candidate.

Reddell told the Post he has no plans to make an endorsement because he is “staying out of it and letting candidates do their best.”

Save Prairie Village, a Facebook group that routinely excoriates Prairie Village government and Mikkelson, in particular, argued in a post last week that Mikkelson’s endorsement shows Robinson will “follow in his (Mikkelson’s) footsteps.”

Before Mikkelson announced his endorsement, Save Prairie Village — which helped organize repeated failed efforts to recall Mikkelson — posted on its Facebook page that a vote for Robinson is a vote for “4 more years of King Eric.”

“It’s time for a change folks; please vote for Inga Selders, and let’s take it back to the basics of what made this city great to begin with,” a Save Prairie Village post said in mid-October.

Who’s backing Selders?

Selders told the Post in an email response to questions that her “campaign is a grassroots effort funded by local neighbors, personal family members and close friends.”

Selders said her campaign donors “are not corporate PACs or special interest groups trying to influence local decisions.”

Selders also said she is not endorsed by PV United, though the group appears to be supporting her through residents aligned with the group and a new round of mailers.

“My campaign is a strictly independent, nonpartisan effort, and I am not endorsed by PV United,” Selders said. “I welcome individual votes and support of all neighbors across our city, including current and former elected officials, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, who share a vision for fiscal responsibility and neighborhood protection. As Mayor, my only loyalty will be to the residents.”

There is support for Selders on social media and during the public comment portion of city council meetings, and from former councilmember Lori Sharp, a prominent backer of PV United.

In an early September email newsletter, Sharp detailed 22 points of contention with Robinson’s votes as a councilmember and campaign finances.

Sharp, who was backed by PV United in the 2023 election and who helped lead circulation of the group’s petitions that summer, concluded her newsletter with a show of support for Selders.

“Prairie Village deserves a real leader who cares about their community. Stop the drama… say no to a bully and political insider,” Sharp wrote. “You have another choice: Inga Selders; who is not just an unemployed politician wanting to make money off the residents.”

Save Prairie Village also called it “refreshing” to see Selders signs in yards with Republican and Democratic candidates for other races in Kansas.

“Inga Selders (also a Democrat) has yet to broadcast manipulative propaganda to the residents this campaign season, unlike her opponent (more to come on that!), and will prioritize PEOPLE OVER POLITICS,” Save Prairie Village’s post from Oct. 1 continued.

That same post said Robinson’s “ties to the agenda-driven JoCo Democratic Party machine would only continue the current division.”

This past weekend, PV United mailers hit some Prairie Village homes.

The mailer draws comparisons between Selders’ and Robinson’s public records and Selders’ responses to questions about her bid for mayor. This includes Selders’ “yes” response to “reduce unnecessary staff and administrative employees.”

Selders told the Post in a follow-up via email that she has “not been endorsed by PV United,” and she declined to comment on the mailer because she did not receive it.

“I have no control over what they choose to do,” Selders said. “I’m keeping my energy focused on knocking on doors, listening to residents and talking about the issues that actually matter to our neighborhoods.”

Steve Snitz, a resident who frequently comments at city council meetings in support of PV United’s positions, also showed support for Selders during public comment at the Oct. 5 city council meeting, thanking her for giving Prairie Village residents a choice on Election Day.

Snitz said Selders is offering “inclusive and nonpartisan government” and “unifying leadership.”

For his part, Robinson told the Post in a Friday interview that the support of current and former city councilmembers and mayors from across the region is a sign of what he plans to bring to the role of mayor.

“There is one candidate that, if he wins, will have that unity moving forward, and there’s one candidate who appears to be very offsides with the region’s and the city’s elected officials,” Robinson said. “If you think that electing that person instead is not going to create more division, more conflict and more uncertainty … that’s a very difficult case to make to voters.”

Who’s giving the candidates money?

Some of Robinson’s major financial contributors include local unions and the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, according to campaign finances.

James Toy, the association’s senior vice president of government affairs, told the Post in an email last week that the organization supports Robinson’s campaign because “of his positions on housing, private property rights, and local land-use policy.”

“We determined that those positions aligned with issues that are important to our members and the homeowners they serve,” Toy said. “We are encouraged by Councilmember Robinson’s perspective on housing and property rights issues and are optimistic about the leadership he could bring to those discussions as mayor.”

Regarding local unions supporting his campaign, Robinson told the Post in a Friday interview that he believes in the work, values and goals of union labor.

Robinson’s candidate loan from in-kind contributions amounts to $4,261.99, according to campaign finance reports.

As for Selders, a majority of her campaign finances show smaller donations from individual donors.

Half of the 12 donors from her July campaign finance report, who were not herself, were from out of state. Selders paid herself $5,250 in the form of loans, according to campaign finance reports.

A couple of these donors include Kentucky-based marijuana gummies business owner James Higdon, and Kentucky-based hemp attorney Jonathan Miller and former Kentucky State Treasurer.

In an email response to the Post, Selders said these out-of-state “contributions are from personal family members and longtime friends across the country who are simply supporting me as a person.”

Selders, who is currently the policy director at American Shaman overseeing hemp lobbying, has previously introduced proposals to the city council to decriminalize marijuana.

Additionally, she founded the Cannabis Justice Coalition, a nonprofit that is dedicated to cannabis reform in Kansas. Councilmember Graves was on the board of the coalition but has since resigned.