Boone County residents in unofficial results have selected who they would like on the ballots in November.
It will be a few days before the election is certified by Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon and the bipartisan team of election officers. These results only are reflective of how Boone County residents voted and do not include statewide results for certain federal and state positions, such as U.S. senator or Missouri governor, or ballot initiatives. Results generally are from roughly 9:30 p.m. when 43 of 44 precincts had reported.
The Tribune has focused on the two contested state representative races and the one for Boone County Sheriff for the primary election. Election results in these contested races are from when all precincts were in.
Voter turnout was around 24% which is slightly lower than than County Clerk Brianna Lennon's estimated turnout of 28%.
House District 44
John Martin is the county Republican Party's choice for their candidate for Missouri House District 44, previously held by Republican Cheri Toalson Reisch, who could not run for the seat again due to term limits. He defeated Bryce Beal. Martin will face off against presumptive Democrat nominee Dave Raithel in November.
Martin is focused on supporting law enforcement, supporting education; whether that is the University of Missouri or allowing for more school choice, such as charter schools; and supporting infrastructure projects. He also aims to incrementally eliminate income tax for Missourians and reduce property taxes.
"I'll think that will spur economic growth. There will be additional income from the growth as far as revenues from sales taxes. I'm not talking about price increases. The top earners, those are the folks that are the job creators. It would be a tax break for everybody," he said to a question asking if this plan would lead to increases in sales taxes to offset these cuts.
For Beal, he works in the Missouri attorney general's office and will continue with that career, and another try for public office is not out of cards.
"I'd definitely consider it if I was asked to do so or saw a need to run again. Otherwise, we do some great work right now at the attorney general's office and I'm excited about the work we're doing," he said, thanking supporters. "We truly cannot be successful without the investment of the community."
House District 50
Gregg Bush is the Democrat Party's choice for their candidate for Missouri House District 50, previously held by Democrat Doug Mann, who announced last year he was not running for reelection, citing ongoing mental health concerns.
It was a tight race with Jeff Basinger being roughly 580 votes away from the nomination. Bush will face off against Republican presumptive nominee Joshua Ray Blakeman in November.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to take my son for a bike ride, but after that it is going to continuing to meet voters," Bush said, adding top concerns he has heard from voters are healthcare since he is a registered nurse and education, especially in light of the recently passed charter schools bill. "I feel ready to take on this challenge. ... I have testified in front of committees and met with legislators (before). ... There should be ways forward and some good coalitions to maybe stop some of the bad things from happening."
Basinger, a Columbia attorney, submitted a statement after results came in.
"I'm proud of our campaign. We raised important issues, did well at forums and got along wonderfully with voters. We just needed more voter contacts. I wish everyone the best," he wrote.
Boone County Sheriff
Dwayne Carey is the Democrat Party's choice for Boone County Sheriff, with 10,943 votes. Because there is no Republican challenger in November, he is the presumptive winner of November's general election, gaining a sixth term as sheriff. He fended off a challenge from a former department deputy Charles Blair, who received 2,388 votes.
Attempts to reach Carey on election night were unsuccessful.
"Simply stated, I really enjoy my job and we have either just started or will be starting some great projects," he said in an election preview last month. "Plus, we have a great group of employees that have become a second family to me and I am not ready to leave them."
When Blair last challenged Carey, he had run as a Republican, but this time as a Democrat. The change in party affiliation was because the party's "platform and principles are more closely aligned with my vision for effective, equitable and compassionate law enforcement," Blair said last month.
Even though he did not win the nomination, Blair still plans to advocate for more transparency and accountability in law enforcement, including at the sheriff's department, such as with a citizens review board.
"I'm looking to maybe work with lawmakers to make law enforcement more accountable. If you make a complaint against a department, they investigate their own complaints and if you are not happy with the outcome there is nowhere in the state you can go to appeal," Blair said Tuesday night.
City and state ballot initiatives
Columbia voters approved Prop 1, the capital improvement sales tax 10 year renewal. As of about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were 12,227 Yes votes and 4,884 No votes.
Ward 1 also has new representation in Valerie Carroll, who did not have a challenger. She will join the Columbia City Council following election certification.
Boone County voters voted against Amendment 1 — 14,440 No votes to 11,166 Yes votes as of about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday — the childcare tax exemption, and against Amendment 4 — 14,047 No votes versus 11,206 Yes votes — the Kansas City police spending.
Other statewide races
Democrat Kathy Steinhoff was the presumptive nominee for Missouri House District 45. Because she also faces no challenger, unless someone were to mount a write-in campaign, she also is the presumptive winner of the November general election. Democrat David Tyson Smith was the presumptive nominee for Missouri House District 46. Since he faces no challenger, barring a write-in campaign, he also is the presumptive winner of the November general election.
Republican John Potter and Democrat incumbent Adrian Plank were presumptive nominees for House District 47. They will face off against each other for the seat at the November general election.
Republican James Coyne and Democrat Stephen Webber were the presumptive nominees for Missouri Senate District 19. They will face off against each other for the seat in the November election.
Boone County Republicans selected Mike Kehoe as their candidate for Missouri governor, with 56% of the vote. He bested a field that included Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, State Sen. Bill Eigel, along with Darrell Leon McClanahan III, Jeremy Gundel, Robert James Olson, Chris Wright, Darren L. Grant and Amber Thomsen. County Democrats selected Crystal Quade as their candidate for Missouri governor, with 60% of the vote. She bested a field that included Mike Hamra, Eric Morrison, Sheryl Gladney, and Hollis L. Laster. Bill Slantz was selected as the Libertarian Party presumptive nominee.
Boone County Republicans chose Lincoln Hough for lieutenant governor with 4,358 votes, defeating a field that included Holly Rehder, Dave Wasinger, Paul Berry III, Tim Baker and Matthew E. Porter. Democrats went with Richard Brown as their candidate, with 66% of the vote, defeating Anastasia Syes. Ken Iverson is the presumptive Libertarian Party candidate.
County Republicans went with embattled Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, receiving with 2,280 votes in the fairly tight race for Missouri secretary of state. His closest competitor was Denny Hoskins, who was 150 votes shy of selection by Boone County Republicans. Others who had vied for the seat were Valentina Gomez, Shane Schoeller, Adam J. Schwadron, Jamie Corley, Mary Elizabeth Coleman and Mike Carter. Democrats chose Barbara Phifer as candidate for secretary of state with 5,048 votes, defeating Monique Williams, who had 3,251 votes. Carl Herman Freese is the presumptive Libertarian nominee.
County Republicans opted for incumbent Vivek Malek as the candidate for Missouri Treasurer, with roughly 5,600 votes more than the next closest challenger Andrew Koening. Others who had vied for the nomination were Cody Smith, Lori Rook, Tina Goodrick and Karan Pujji. Democrat Mark Osmack and Libertarian John A. Hartwig Jr. are the presumptive nominees for their respective parties.
It was a race between two Republicans for Attorney General, with county voters ultimately selecting Andrew Bailey over Will Scharf. Bailey had 77% of the county Republican vote. Democrat Elad Jonathan Gross and Libertarian Ryan L. Munro are the presumptive nominees for their respective parties.
County-level contests
Most candidates for county-level contests did not have a primary challenger, so these presumptive nominees will be on the November ballot.
Republican Cheri Toalson Reisch is challenging Democratic incumbent Janet Thompson for her seat as Boone County Northern District commissioner. Republican Sam Turner is challenging Democratic incumbent Justin Aldred for his seat at Southern District commissioner.
Republican Dustin Stanton and Democrat Jenna Redel are having a rematch of 2022 from when Redel unseated Stanton as Boone County Treasurer.
Voters will have to decide between Republican Jesus Osete or Democrat Stepanie Morrell for Division 3 judge after the retirement of current judge Kevin Crane.
Other candidates for county office have no other party challengers are so are presumptive winners of the November election. They are Democrat Kenny Mohr as Boone County Assessor, Democrat Chimene Schwach for Public Administrator and Republican Brouck Jacobs for Division 1 judge.
More: Biden's decision to end run just another unprecedented campaign moment, MU prof says
Federal representation
Republican Josh Hawley faced no primary challenger and so is the presumptive nominee for the November election. County Democrats chose Lucas Kunce with 75% voting for him. He fended off Karla May, Columbia local December L. Harmon, and Mita Biswas. The presumptive Libertarian nominee is W.C. Young.
It was a race among several Republicans for U.S. House District 3, but Kurt Schaefer, who was a former state senator for Columbia, nabbed the nomination among Boone County voters with 4,403 votes. His strongest competitor was Bob Onder, another former state senator, who garnered 2,817 votes. Others in the race were Arnie C. AC (Arn) Dienoff, Chad Bicknell, Kyle Bone, Justin Hicks, and Bruce A. Bowman. It was a choice among two for county Democrats. They selected Bethany E. Mann over Andrew Daily — 5,755 votes to 1,599 votes. The presumptive Libertarian nominee is Jordan Rowden.
Republican Mark Alford for U.S. District 4 did not have a primary challenger and thus is the party's presumptive nominee among Boone County voters. Democrats in Boone County chose Jeanette Cass as their candidate for the fourth district. She defeated Mike McCaffree for the nomination with 2,454 votes to his 1,113 votes. The presumptive Libertarian nominee is Thomas Holbrook.
Previously: Missouri's primary election is Tuesday. Here's what to know about the ballot, predictions
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on X, formerly Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Boone County chooses candidates in primary election
