Election Recap: Who won, who didn’t

A crop of new candidates head to the general election

By Tyler Schneider

MO US SENATE (R): 

A late endorsement from former President Donald Trump for “ERIC” was all both Eric Schmitt and Eric Greitens thought they needed to shake off each other and U.S. Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler for the U.S. Senate Republican nomination. The seat is being retired by Sen.  Roy Blunt. 

Schmitt, the current Missouri Attorney General, and Greitens, who is well known as the former disgraced governor of Missouri whose 2018 resignation paved the way for Mike Parson’s current run in Jefferson City, both unequivocally accepted the endorsement.

When the ballots were rung up, Schmitt emerged with 45.6 percent (298,852 votes), ahead of Hartzler (22%, 144,469) and the now-faded Greitens (18.9%, 123,982). He will now go on to face Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine in the general election, Nov. 8. 

MO US SENATE (D): 

It was a close call between St. Louis beer heiress/former nurse Trudy Busch Valentine (43%, 158,583) and the former Marine and progressive upstart candidate Lucas Kunce (38.4, 140,953), but Valentine would hold him off despite only having entered the race in March

Valentine, whose family wealth was listed at $17.6 billion by Forbes in 2020, says she was motivated to enter the race following her son’s fatal 2020 opioid overdose. Her policy on several key issues centers around equipping the middle class, including support for raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. 

US HOUSE DISTRICT 5 (D): 

Emanuel Cleaver II looks poised to walk off with his tenth consecutive term representing Missouri’s 5th District in the United States House of Representatives after defeating primary challenger Maite Salazar. 

Cleaver will now face Republican Jacob Turk, who won his field with 51.7 percent of the GOP vote, in the Nov. 8 general election. 

MO HOUSE DISTRICT 36 (D):

In the most competitive South KC state level primary, incumbent Annette Turnbaugh was ousted from her seat by Anthony Ealy, who drew 61.1 percent (2,195 votes) ahead of Turnbaugh (35.2%, 1,265) and John D Boyd Jr (3.6%, 131). 

Turnbaugh was originally elected to the District 37 seat in 2020, but the 2022 redistricting process was remapped and renamed District 36 for the coming legislative sessions. Ealy, 27, an attorney with progressive leanings, will take on Republican candidate Kurt Lauvstad on Nov. 8. 

Jackson County Executive: 

It seems as though Royals’ royalty, the incumbent Frank White, may have underestimated exactly where voters’ heads were at coming into his primary effort against Stacy Lake. Nonetheless, White came out ahead with 53 percent with 33,943 votes to Lake’s  29,765. 

A three-way Republican primary yielded Theresa Cass Galvin as its champion. Galvin garnered 16,769 votes over Preston Smith (12,273) and Jason Pearson (9,366) and will now go toe-to-toe with White for voters on Nov. 8. 

1st District County Legislator:

Manuel “Manny” Abarca IV took hold of a spirited Democratic primary race with 10,878 votes to top challenges from Justice Horn (5,233) and Geoff Gerling (2,503). 

Abarca’s campaign will continue through Nov. 8 against Republican challenger Christina McDonough Hunt, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary.

2nd District County Legislator:

Venessa Huskey pulled off an impressive margin of victory with 5,485 votes to sprint ahead of her Democratic primary challengers, Lorenzo Johnson (1,611) and Mitchell W. Sudduth (1,190). Huskey will run without Republican opposition in November. 

4th District County Legislator: 

DaRon McGee finished with 8,023 votes to defeat his Democratic primary challenger, Michael Ricardo Brown (2,309). McGee, a former state representative, is the current President of the Hickman Mills School Board. He will run unopposed on Nov. 8. 

6th District County Legislator: 

One of the few local races where the Republican side proved to be impressively competitive, the winner of this four-way contest will face Democrat Amanda Toomey in the general election. 

The eventual victor was Lee’s Summit businessman Sean Smith with 5,081 votes. Runner-up Trish Carlyle would come close (4,065) in the final count, while Phyllis Edson (1,367) and Roberta Gough (592) drew considerably less.

1st District At-Large:

Rep. Bill E. Kidd, the current Republican serving for District 20, hopes to celebrate hitting his Missouri House term limit with a new office as he approaches the Nov. 8 general election contest against Democratic opponent Jalen Anderson. 

While Anderson ran unopposed in his Aug. 2 primary, Kidd overcame a solid challenge from Brenda Allen, picking up 21,044 votes to Allen’s 15,139. Allen had entered the race having switched parties prior to the primary. 

2nd District At-Large: 

Donna Peyton drew a 65 percent share of Democratic primary voters with 37,493 to shelve challenges from Zac Sweets (13,098) and Ryan Meyer (7,493). 

On the Republican side, John J. Murphy’s 22,142 votes nearly doubled that of his primary opponent, Bob Stringfield (11,892). 

Peyton and Murphy will vie for one of the few competitive Jackson County Legislator races of the general election, Nov. 8. 

3rd District At-Large: 

Megan Marshall took over two-thirds of the vote in the Democratic primary with 40,001 in her favor versus 11,027 for Tony Miller and 7,890 for Delmira Quarles. 

Marshall, a 20-year Marine and Chicago-native, will move ahead to the general election against Republican opponent Lance Dillenschneider, who ran unopposed in his primary.