After a dramatic Missouri primary season, the state’s most hotly contested races have their nominees decided after a smooth election night on Tuesday.
Voters in Missouri weighed in on primaries for the U.S. Senate and House, state legislative districts and county legislative districts across the state.
In Jackson County outside of Kansas City, turnout was 28.2%, according to unofficial data from the Jackson County Election Board. In Kansas City proper, turnout was lower, at 19.7%.
Here are the results of the races The Beacon tracked this primary season. Be sure to catch up on all local government races from The Beacon’s Josh Merchant.
Primary results for U.S. Senate
Twenty-one Republicans and 11 Democrats ran in their respective primaries for the U.S. Senate. Current Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt won the Republican nomination, and nurse and Anheuser-Busch beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine won the Democratic nomination.
Ex.-Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned in 2018 amid allegations of blackmail and sexual assault, was looking to make a Senate bid his avenue for a political comeback. He spent the primary courting former President Trump and his base, as did the other GOP front-runners, Schmitt and current U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler.
Trump issued a late-stage endorsement for “ERIC,” which both Greitens and Schmitt claimed.
According to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s office, Schmitt took the nomination with 45.6% of the vote. Hartzler followed at 22% and Greitens finished in third with 19%. In Jackson County outside of Kansas City and in Platte and Clay counties the vote share for each candidate mirrored the statewide results.
Hartzler performed well in Cass County, where she is from, ending the night there with 46% of the vote compared to Schmitt’s 33%.
At her watch party Tuesday night, Hartzler conceded the race to Schmitt. Greitens did not concede the race at his election night watch party, according to reports.
On the Democratic side, self-described populist Lucas Kunce and Trudy Busch Valentine held frontrunner status throughout the primary. Busch Valentine, who entered the race in early April, self-funded 88% of her campaign, according to Open Secrets, which amounted to over $3 million in loans to herself.
In a tweet Tuesday night, Busch Valentine thanked her supporters.
“To those of you who have supported me in this campaign — whether you knocked on doors, made calls, donated, or simply voted for me — thank you. It’s been the honor of my life to be trusted and supported by so many of you,” she said.
Kunce, who spent the final weeks of the campaign going on air with negative ads about Busch Valentine’s platform and history, thanked his supporters Tuesday night as well.
“Thank you for fighting. Never stop,” he tweeted.
Kunce and Busch Valentine finished the night with about 14,000 votes each in Kansas City proper, according to unofficial results.
In Jackson County outside of Kansas City, voters more heavily voted for Busch Valentine, with 44.6% casting ballots for her and 36.2% casting ballots for Kunce.
Clay and Cass counties both opted for Busch Valentine, where she earned 42% and 50% of the vote in each county’s primary, respectively.
Platte County bucked statewide trends and opted for Kunce over Busch Valentine, 41% to 40%, respectively, according to unofficial results.
Read more about the primary dynamics in the days leading up to Tuesday.
Missouri primary voters opt for TV anchor Mark Alford
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican from Harrisonville, currently represents the 4th Congressional District in Missouri, but left the seat open when she announced she was running for U.S. Senate.
State Sen. Rick Brattin, a member of the Missouri Senate’s “Conservative Caucus,” ran in the race to fill her seat, but lost the nomination to political newcomer and former TV anchor Mark Alford.
The seat is considered a red district in November.
Primary voters reiterate support for incumbent Sen. Cierpiot
Incumbent Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, was defending his seat from two challengers running to his right. One of the top issues in the race was abortion, after controversy erupted when Cierpiot’s challengers claimed that he had not gone far enough to defund Planned Parenthood in the state, though state dollars never paid for abortions in Missouri and will not now that abortions are illegal.
While Planned Parenthood wasn’t explicitly defunded through legislation, they were given no state funding for the upcoming fiscal year, which Cierpiot claimed was effectively the same result.
Cierpiot finished his race comfortably ahead of his challengers.
State House District 19
Incumbent Rep. Ingrid Burnett, a Democrat, was facing a primary challenge from the left in her northeast Kansas City district.
Burnett staved off a challenge from Wick Thomas.
State House District 36
Incumbent Rep. Annette Turnbaugh lost her three-way Democratic primary on Tuesday night, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s website.
Turnbaugh was challenged by Anthony Ealy, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law who touted his drive to bring “bold, new leadership” to the Grandview and Kansas City House district.
