2024 Primary Election Recap

By Brad Ziegler

Area voters turned out in lower-than-expected numbers yesterday for the August primary elections.  While primary elections for statewide office produced some surprises, incumbents in the Missouri House and Senate were mostly successful in turning back primary challengers from their party where there were contested elections.

Prosecuting Attorney

On the local level, the Jackson County Prosecutor Democratic primary was a three-way contest that was won by Malesa Johnson, the current Director of Public Safety for Kansas City with 48.4% of the vote. Johnson defeated Assistant County Prosecutor John Gromowsky, 26.1%,  and local defense attorney Stephanie Burton, 25.5%,  and will face Tracey Chappell in the general election.  The winner of the general election will be the first Black female prosecutor in the county’s history.

Missouri Candidates

In Missouri Senate District 7, State Representative Patty Lewis defeated Pat Contreras in the Democratic primary by a wide margin, 67% to 33%, and will face Republican Joey LaSalle, who ran unopposed in the primary, in November.  

In the District 9 Democratic primary, incumbent Missouri Senator Barbara Ann Washington won 79% of the vote to defeat Brandon Ellington for the opportunity to face Republican Derron Black for re-election in November. 

The Republican primary in Missouri Senate District 31 was won by incumbent Rick Brattin, who received 47% of the votes, defeating Missouri State Representative Michael Haffner, who received 27.4% of the votes and Representative Dan Houx, who received 24.6% of the votes. Brattin will face Democrat Raymond L. James, who ran unopposed in the primary, in November.

State Representative Michael Davis won the Republican primary for Missouri House District 56 in Cass County, defeating Todd Berck and Ryan Johnson with 41.9% of the vote.  Davis will face Democrat Pam Jenkins Hatcher in the general election this fall.

In the District 28 Missouri House race, Donna Barnes defeated Mike Sager in the Democratic primary with 75.3% of the vote and will face Republican Steven Hinton in the general election for the seat previously held by Barnes’ husband.

Mike Kehoe came out on top in the race for the Republican candidate for Governor with 39.4% of Republican voters across the state casting their ballot for the Lieutenant Governor. Kehoe defeated Missouri State Senator Bill Eigel, who finished second with 32.5% of the votes, and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft who received 23.3% of the votes.  Support for Kehoe and Ashcroft had appeared to be even as recently as the end of July when polls showed then each receiving the support of 26% of those polled and Eigel only receiving the support of 17% of poll respondents.

Kehoe will face Crystal Quade in the November election as Democratic voters cast 50.2% of their ballots for the Missouri House Minority Leader from Southwest Missouri. Quade defeated Springfield businessman Mike Hamra, who received 31.7% of the votes.

St. Louis attorney Dave Wasinger narrowly defeated Lincoln Hough in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor, capturing less than 8,000 more votes than the runner-up.  Wasinger will face Missouri State Representative Richard Brown from Kansas City, the winner of the Democratic primary election, who defeated Anastasia Syes with 64.9% of the votes.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey is seeking re-election and won the Republican primary contest by defeating Will Scharf with 63% of the votes.  Bailey will face Democrat Elad Johnson Gross in the November general election.

Missouri Senator Denny Hoskins captured the Republican primary for Secretary of State, defeating Shane Schoeller and several other candidates with just 24.4% of the vote.  The Warrensburg Senator will face Barbara Phifer, who won the Democratic primary over Monique Williams with 40.8% of the vote.

Vivek Malek, the current Missouri State Treasurer who was appointed to the position by Governor Mike Parson in 2023, defeated Andrew Koenig in the Republican primary for re-election to his office, receiving 41.5% of the vote to 20.5% for Koenig.  Mark Osmack ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Lucas Kunce topped the list of Democratic candidates seeking to challenge the US Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley, in November. Kunce received 67.7% of the votes cast in the primary election.  Kunce will now face Hawley, the Rockhurst High School graduate who is seeking a second term in Washington and who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Democrat Jeanette Cass defeated Mike McCaffree in the Missouri 4th congressional district primary, receiving 65% of the votes.  Cass will run against incumbent Republican Mark Alford in November.

Constitutional Amendments

Missouri voters defeated Amendment 1 to the Missouri constitution, which would have granted the legislature the authority to pass legislation that would grant exemptions from property taxes for childcare facilities without a public vote.  The amendment was an attempt to make childcare more readily available to Missouri families but was voted down by 54.7% of the voters.

Voters across Missouri approved Amendment 4 to the state’s constitution which will require Kansas City to allocate at least 25% of its annual budget to funding the Kansas City Police Department.  The amendment was put back in front of the voters a second time after the previously passed amendment was found unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2022.  This year’s amendment was narrowly passed by 51.2% of the voters.