Senior Jack Mikkelson waited alongside with his family anxiously staring at the LG TV in front him, hoping to hear his father, Eric Mikkelson’s name be called. But he wouldn’t hear his name called–at least not that night. Johnson County was unable to get election results out on time due to a technology issue.
Instead, the family spent the night awaiting news that would come the next morning: Eric would move onto the general election after earning 51.58% of the voters in a three way race.
“We were very confident because very early, around eight or so, we got the preliminary results from advanced voting,” Eric said. “They had us about over 55% in a three way race, which gave us a very strong indication that we were in good shape.”
Eric’s family has always played a big role in his life– and he knew his campaign would take up valuable family time. But just as they sat with him, waiting to see the results of the primary election, they will support him through the general election. Jack is especially supportive of many of his father’s policies and believes they are pivotal to the city and have the ability to improve quality of life and preserve the city’s charm.
One of his policies focuses on parks and biking paths. Eric wishes for every person in Prairie Village to have a park within walking distance as well as paths, increasing walkability and bikeability in the city. He feels there are not enough parks currently and with more, citizens could walk their dog and younger and older children could play.
“Parks make for a healthier, happier city and because we’re a landlocked city, we cannot expand,”Eric said. “I want to preserve our parks and greenspace that we have.”
As mayor, Eric’s ultimate goal is to improve Prairie Village by listening to the voters and doing his best to fix any problems they have. With the support of his family, he feels ready to take on any challenges the election may bring.
Eric, who has been on the city council for four years, first got the idea to run for mayor of Prairie Village when the last mayor, Laura Wassmer, decided not to run for another term. Eric knew there was a risk for someone inexperienced running for mayor, so he felt called to step up and serve.
“It’s a great city, but that doesn’t come easily and all of that can be squandered pretty quickly,” Eric said. “Schools including Shawnee Mission East could suffer, so I decided to do it for the benefit of the city and the community.”
After East students came up to him in the halls and said they were voting for his dad, Jack believes that his father’s tie to the East community will help with his campaign. Jack also believes that many kids associate him and his siblings with his father and see a familiar name when they’re voting.
Eric knew that running for mayor would cause him to miss his out on certain aspects of his children’s’ lives such as going to events at East, his son’s tennis match, or to his daughter’s choir concerts and musicals. So he made sure his wife and kids were on board and asked for their approval.
Despite having less time with his father, Jack was excited when his father announced he would be running for mayor, believing his father is right for the job. Jack has done his fair share helping with the campaign by knocking on doors and being there for his father’s functions.
“I think he really values our opinions which gives a me a good feeling about the kind of person he is,” Jack said. I think that overall, he just wants to do good for the city and that really shows in his interactions with the voters.”
Eric is confident going into the general election but he is continuing to knock on doors, campaign, and listen to voter’s concerns to ensure he does the best he can do.
“We knew the primary was just round one, now we have the general election and we’ve got another campaign,” said Eric. “The real work starts when we win in November, serving as mayor is not an easy challenge, but these are challenge that I’m looking forward to.”