Election Results: Several Close Races in Missouri Primary Election

Voters in Missouri went to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots for the Primary Election.

Besides State Wide Races and Ballot Issues, voters in Stone and Taney Counties had several contested races and ballot issues to decide on as well as several Republican Party Committee Positions. 

Taney County
Just over 26% of the voters turned out for the election. The race for Prosecuting Attorney went down to the final precinct as incumbent Brad Hughes and challenger Tony Williams went back and forth. In the end, Hughes won reelection by 96 votes, 3,444 to 3,348 for Williams with the other challenger, Joe Allen, getting 1,035 votes.

Dawn Bilyeu defeated Gabe Shipley in the race to replace Auditor David Clark who did not run for reelection. 

Nine committee positions for the Republican Party were contested with the closest race being in the Jasper Township as Rita Crosley defeated Rhonda Merriman for the Committeewoman position by seven votes. Another close race was the three way contest for Oliver Township Committeeman as Joshua Heston won over Bill Beeler and Mark Cowsert with only 15 votes separating first from third place. 

The other committee positions went to Marshal Howden, Anne McGregor, Ted Martin, Susan Bearden, Kendra Keys, Ron Houseman, and Sheila Wyatt. 

Voters in Merriam Woods voted down a Property Tax increase to create a Special Road Fund 137-120. 

Stone County
35% of voters turned out in Stone County with the Presiding Commissioner Race generating interest. The three person race saw challengers Kelly Power and Doug Minton vie for the top spot with incumbent Gordon Weathers in third place. Weathers however had a late surge with the final precincts counted by Power was able to hold on to win the race with 2,644 votes to Weathers' 2,458 and Minton's 1,819 votes. 

Denise Dickens wins another term as County Clerk over challenger David Cash. 

Rob Gillum, Gary Clark, and Kathy Clark won the contested Republican Committee seats. 

Voters in Stone and Barry Counties passed the Bond Issue for the Central Crossing Fire Protection District in Shell Knob while Stone and Christian County Voters passed a Sales Tax for the Nixa Fire Protection District.

All the races for County Offices in both counties were Republican Candidates with no Democratic Challenger running in November.  

Other Races
The one contested race for State Representatives in the Primary was the Republican Nomination for District 138 with incumbent Burt Whaley defeating Ton Franiak. Whaley will face off against Democrat Chris Daugherty in November. 

The other House Races were uncontested in the Primary but will set up races in November with incumbent Republicans Matthew Overcast in District 155 and Brian Seitz in 156 going up against Democratic Challengers Joshua Berzins and Trent Davis. 

7th District Congressman Republican Eric Burlison won renomination for the November Election and will faceoff against Democrat Missi Hesketh and Libertarian Kevin Craig. 

State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick won renomination to represent the Republican Party in the November Election. 

State Constitutional Amendments 4 and 5 were defeated by a wide margin both locally and around the state. Amendment 4 would have required a Citizen Petition Constitutional Amendment to pass in all Congressional Districts instead of simple majority while Amendment 5 would have began the process of eliminating the State Income Tax. 

The other two Amendments on the ballot, #1 to renew the Water/Soil Conservation and Park Tax and #2 to establish guidelines for County Assessors in Charter Counties both passed. 

A link to complete election results locally can be found below with state results from the Ozarks First Website.

Stone County

Taney County