Key Races Reflect Strong KC Democrat Stronghold

As election workers continue the toil of counting ballots two days after a Presidential election that possibly could alter the projection of what as of today (Thursday) appears to be a Joe Biden/Kamala Harris ascension to the White House, the impact of what many consider the most important election in recent history has simultaneously caused an adverse impact on local elections.

“Down ticket” candidates for Missouri State Executive Offices were either ‘Big Winners ‘or ‘Big Losers ‘ based on their party affiliation alignment, as Republicans in one fell swoop laid claim to the five top positions, Governor and Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, the highest ranking local elected official on the ballot and an incumbent won his 9th term with 104,458 votes vanquished Republican challenger Ryan Derks, 26,537 votes. Also in the race was Libertarian Party’s Robin Dominick, with 9,211 votes.

Democrats fared better locally in Kansas City and Jackson County in a sweep of three State Senate seats, including one Senate seat won by Barbara Washington; and they enjoyed a fair advantage in bids for State Representative offices, winning 12 of 20 contested seats, including a spirited sprint by Mark Sharp, an incumbent seeking a second term, following his first in a special election last November.

Two other ballot measures seen as crucial were: · Missouri Amendment No. 3, a redistricting change, passed 1,471,892 to 1,413,223 but locally was disapproved by voters, 179,308 to 140,458. The change reverses a voter approved measure passed two years ago tasking a non-partisan State Demographer and puts the task into the hands of the Governor-appointed bipartisan commissioners; and · Jackson County Question No. 2, a measure failing approval to remove statues of Andrew Jackson from outside the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City and the Historic Truman Courthouse in Independence. The vote was 131,351 “yes” to “188,025 “no” votes.

 Jackson County Executive Frank White, in a statement Wednesday, said, “I look forward to engaging more opportunities to eliminate racism and discrimination in Jackson County as we continue the fight for equal rights and justice for those we serve.”

Missouri State Executive Offices Missouri Governor— Republican Incumbent Mike Parson with 1,713,152 votes defeated Democrat Nicole Galloway’s 1,216,192. Others in this race were Libertarian Rick Combs, 48,843; and Green Party’s Jerome Howard Bauer, 17,117.

Lieutenant Governor—Republican Mike Kehoe, the incumbent, with 1,724,050 votes beat Democrat Alissia Canady with 1,141,225 votes in a bid to become the first black and first female to hold this position. Others in the race, Libertarian Bill Slantz, got 53,502 votes; and Green Party’s Kelley Dragoo got 27,981 votes.

Secretary of State—another major Missouri State race, saw Republican Incumbent John R. (Jay) Ashcroft garnering 1,790,873 votes to beat Democrat nominee Yinka Feleti, with 1,072,415 votes. Others in this race were Libertarian Party’s Carl Herman Freese, 55,320 votes; Green Party’s Paul Lehmann 23,981 votes; and Constitution Party’s Paul Venable, 13,066 votes.

For State Treasurer—Republican Scott Fitzpatrick, the incumbent, with 1,735,565 votes beat Democrat Vicki Lorenz Englund’s 1,113,785 votes. Others in this race were Libertarian Party Nicholas (Nick) Kasoff, 64,267 votes; and Green Party Joseph Civettini, 18,936 votes.

 For Attorney General—Republican incumbent Eric Schmitt with 1,745,353 votes defeated Democrat Rich Finneran, 1,108,944 votes. Also in this race was Libertarian Party’s Kevin C. Babcock, with 80,715 votes.

Successful candidates for Missouri offices were, for State Senator District 7: Democrat Greg Razer, who with 70,077 votes defeated Green Party’s Nathan Kline, 15,297 votes; for State Senator District 9" Democrat Barbara Anne Washington, a State Representative, who with 50,722 votes defeated Republican David Martin, with 10,909 votes; and for State Senator District 11: Democrat John Rizzo, with 49,789 votes, was unchallenged.

There were 3,064 write-ins against him.

Successful for State House of Representative seats are District 19: Democrat Ingrid Burnett, unopposed, 6,984 with 337 write-ins; District 20 Republican Bill E. Kidd defeating Democrat Mike Englert, 10,875 to 5.757; and District 21 is not officially decided and will possibly be contested, with Democrat Robert Sauls 6,634 votes leading by a narrow 25- point margin over Republican Vicki Riley, 6,609 votes—a race that included 28 write-in votes.

More successful candidates were State Representative District 22: Democrat Yolanda Young, unopposed, with 11,716 votes against 256 write-ins; State Representative District 23: Democrat Michael L. Johnson, unopposed, with 8,710 votes against 149 write-ins; and State Representative District 24: Democrat Emily Weber, with 20,038 votes, beat Libertarian Andrew Miller’s 2,481 votes.

Other winners were for State Representative District 25: Democrat Patty Lewis, unopposed, with 21,111 votes against 543 write-ins; State Representative District 26: Democrat Ashley Bland Manlove, unopposed, got 15,050 votes. There were 179 write-ins; and State Representative District 27: Democrat Richard Brown, unopposed, with 11,826 against 282 write-ins.

Wins also went to State Representative District 28: Democrat Jerome Barnes, unopposed, with 13,036 votes against 538 write-ins; State Representative District 29: Democrat Rory Rowland, unopposed, with 13,346 votes against 658 write-ins; and State Representative District 30: Republican Jon Patterson with 12,782 votes to beat Democrat Art Schaaf, with 9,533 votes. There were 22 write-ins.

Other seats secured were State Representative District 31: by Republican Dan Stacy with 10,840 votes to beat Democrat Rhonda R. Dolan, 9,055 votes and 28 write-ins; State Representative District 32: Republican Jeff Coleman, unopposed, with 17,064 votes against 443 write-ins; and State Representative District 33: Republican Chris Sander, unopposed, with 10,510 votes against 195 write-ins.

Wins also went to State Representative District 34 by Republican Rick Roeber, with 10,779 votes beat Democrat Chris Hager, with 10,434 votes with 48 write-ins; and State Representative District 35: Democrat Keri Engel, with 10,582 votes to beat Democrat Sean Smith, with 9,658 votes against 24 write-ins.

There were wins for State Representative District 36: Democrat Mark Sharp, with 11,230 beat Republican Nola Wood, with 5,278 votes; State Representative District 37: Democrat Annette Turnbaugh , with 9,924 votes, beating Republican John Boyd, 6,621 votes and Green Party’s Daniel Karam, 279 votes and 17 write-ins.

Finally, there were wins for State Representative District 53: Republican Terry Thompson, 567, beat Democrat Connie Simmons, 174, Libertarian Party Cameron Pack, 18 and Independent Party Aaron Mais, 15. There were 16 writeins; and State Representative District 56: Republican Michael Davis, with 11,203 votes, beat Democrat Neal Barnes, with 6,733 votes. There were no write-ins. Jackson County Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, the Democrat incumbent, with 189,453 votes remains in her post, having beaten Republican challenger Tracey Chappell, with 131,252 votes. Chappell if elected, would have been the first female and first African American to hold this position.

Jackson County Sheriff Daryl Forte, uncontested in the General Election, is now the defacto Jackson County Sheriff yet still received 264,915 votes. There were 11,656 write-ins. He is a former Kansas City, Mo., Chief of Police and campaigned on a platform promising integrity and fairness; and he promoted to the department its first female captain.

Ballot questions for Judgeship retention requested a simple “Yes” or “No” and none were rejected. The specific number of “Yes” or “No”votes can be tallied from the KCEB and JaCo Election Board websites, which lists the following Missouri Supreme Court Judge, Patricia Breckenridge; Missouri Court of Appeals, Judge, Western District, Tom Chapman; Circuit Juddges, 16th Judicial Circuit, Div. 2, Kenneth R. Garrett; Div. 10, Patrick W. Campbell; Div. 14, John M. Torrence; Div. 17, Cory L. Atkins; Div. 18, Kevin D. Harrell; AssociateCircuit Judges, Div. 28, Jefrey C. Keal; Div. 29, Janette Kay Rodecap; and Div. 32, Kyndra J. Stockdale.

Missouri Constitutional Amendment No. 1, asking voters to amend the Missouri Constitution to extend the two term restriction that currently applies to the Governor and Treasurer to the Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Attorney General, failed with 1,486,860 against as opposed to 1,373,891 votes by supporters who wanted to make this happen.

Voters also approved Jackson County Question No. 1, allowing the county to impose up to a $1.00 (one dollar) fee on a subscriber of any communications service that has been enabled to contact 911 to fund 911 service in the County. It passed 166,591 to 153,023.