Missouri had a crowded primary field—especially in the Republican Party. But after the Aug. 6th Primary Election, there is a clear look into the future, at least for November 2024.
Republican voters clearly chose incumbent Josh Hawley as their U.S. Senate candidate, Lucas Kunce had an overwhelming win for the Democrats, and W.C. Young was chosen as the Libertarian candidate.
In the very crowded Missouri gubernatorial race, there were nine candidates for the GOP running to appear on the November ballot. Bill Eigel and Mike Kehoe had the majority of the votes, but Mike Kehoe led by nearly seven percentage points. On the Democratic side, there were five, and Crystal Quade—the current District 132 Democrat Minority Floor Leader—pulled ahead for a little over 50 percent, with other candidates trailing. Libertarians chose Bill Slantz as their candidate.
For Lieutenant Governor, Dave Wasinger and Lincoln Hough were within one percentage point, with Dave Wasinger narrowly edging out the advantage. Democrats chose Richard Brown as their candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Ken Iverson was the only candidate for Libertarians.
Another crowded field for the Republicans, although not as contested, was the candidacy for Secretary of State. Denny Hoskins won 24 percent and other candidates trailed by the teens and single-digit percentage points. Barbara Phifer will be the Democrats’ candidate on the November ballot. Carl Herman Freese was the Libertarian candidate.
For State Treasurer, Vivek Malek, the incumbent and recent appointee to the office, pulled out with a win on the Republican ticket. Democrats chose Mark Osmack, and John A. Hartwig, Jr. will be the Libertarian candidate.
Statewide, the ticket for Attorney General in the Republican Party brought a barrage of advertising, but Andrew Bailey drew a win at 63 percent of the vote for the GOP, over Will Scharf. Democrats chose Elad Jonathan Gross to run in November and Libertarians will run Ryan L. Munro.
Regionally in Southeast Missouri, for Missouri's 8th Congressional District, Jason Smith was the clear winner for the GOP, Randi McCallian garnered enough support to be the Democratic candidate, and Jake Dawson will appear on the Libertarian ticket.
For State Senator in District 25, Jason Bean won the Republican ticket and Chuck Banks is the Democratic candidate.
Another hotly contested ticket was for Missouri’s 27th District Representative. Jamie Burger came out on top with 40 percent of his party’s voters.
For State Representative in District 146, Barry D. Hovis garnered 53 percent of the vote on the GOP ticket.
John Voss took the Republican ticket; J. Michael Davis won the Democratic ticket and Greg Tlapek took the Libertarian slot for State Rep. in the 147th District.
For State Rep. in the 148th, David A. Dolan will appear on the GOP ticket and will run unopposed.
In the 149th State District, Donnie Brown will also run unopposed as the only Republican candidate.
The State Representative candidates for District 150 will be Cameron Bunting Parker for Republicans and Kay Collier will run on the Democratic ticket.
For State Representative in the 151st District, Steve W. Jordan was the GOP winner, and Donnie Lynn Hovis Jr. will be on the ballot in November for Democrats.
On the November ballot, Hardy Billington is running unopposed as a Republican for 152nd State District Representative.
Frank E. Miller retained his slot as the Circuit 32, Division 2 Judge on the Republican ticket and ran unopposed.
Down ballot in Cape Girardeau County, a ticket that normally does not receive much attention is Coroner. That was not the case this year, as previous incumbent Wavis Jordan faced three felonies and a misdemeanor charge from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. Jordan was later removed as Coroner and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s office was appointed to serve in that capacity. In the Tue. Aug. 6 Primary Election, Craig D. Williams came out ahead on the Republican ticket by 3 percent, just above Mark J. Seesing.
For Sheriff in Cape County, Ruth Ann Dickerson—running unopposed on the GOP ticket, will appear as the only registered candidate in November for this office.
In Cape Girardeau County, Assessor Bob Adams retains his slot unopposed on the ballot.
The office of Cape Girardeau County Treasurer on the Republican ticket had two candidates, with Ronnie Maxwell finding a clear win at 60 percent of the vote.
The Public Administrator office in Cape County had candidates on both the Republican and Libertarian tickets. Kyla Biester edged out 52 percent of the vote for Republicans and Andrew Ostrowski will appear as the Libertarian ticket.
There were two Missouri Constitutional Amendments on the primary ballot this year: On the question of Constitutional Amendment Number 1, which would allow childcare establishments to be exempt from property tax, 55 percent of voters rejected the measure.
On the question of Missouri’s Constitutional Amendment 4—which would allow the legislature to pass a law requiring Kansas City to increase funding for the Kansas City Police Department, 51 percent of voters approved.
