On what may be an omen for the future in city politics and perhaps the biggest surprise of the Democratic primary on Tuesday, the split black vote in Missouri’s 5th Senatorial District meant nothing to the outcome, as both black candidates beat the white progressive, and the winner was a clear winner, winning by more than 2,000 votes.
A tireless Jamilah Nasheed was successful in her challenge to incumbent Robin Wright-Jones, despite a well-funded white progressive opponent, Jeanette Mott Oxford, entering the race last. Nasheed won 8,249 votes (40.5 percent), with Wright-Jones surprisingly coming in second with 6,176 votes (30.3 percent) and Mott Oxford trailing with 5,945 (29.2 percent).
(All vote totals are unofficial results from the Missouri Secretary of State.)
Another surprise was the convincing beating that Michael Butler gave Martin Casas for the 79th State House seat vacated by Tishaura O. Jones to run for Treasurer, winning 2,957 votes (62 percent) to Casas’ 1,816 votes (38 percent). The racial demographics of the diverse district favored the African-American candidate, but not by that wide of a margin, especially since Casas worked for the black vote and has some relationships in North St. Louis.
Vernon Betts was denied the biggest surprise of all when he missed winning an upset victory over incumbent Sheriff Jim Murphy, though he should have given Kevin Horrigan and the other often-condescending good old boys at the Post-Dispatch something to think about. The Post said Murphy had no serious challenger and denied Betts a candidate interview, but Betts looked like a serious challenger on Tuesday night. Murphy – whose name has been on citywide ballots since 1988 – beat this under-funded, first-time candidate by a close margin, 17,213 votes (46.2 percent) to 16,336 votes (43.8 percent). (A third candidate, David Mosley, won 3,720 votes or 10 percent.)
Much less surprising, but still painful, was the beating another promising first-time candidate, Redditt Hudson, took. He was beaten soundly by veteran state rep Gina Walsh in the race for the open 13th Senatorial District, 13,733 votes (63.6 percent) to 7,854 votes (36.4 percent).
Top of the ticket
Though incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill had been getting nothing but bad news in polls against all of her potential Republican rivals going into the Republican primary, she got arguably good news Tuesday night when staunch conservative Republican Todd Akin prevailed unexpectedly (and with a little bit of help from McCaskill’s strong targeting of the other two candidates,) 217,240 votes (36 percent) over John G. Brunner (180,678 votes, 30 percent) and Sarah Steelman (176,080 votes, 29.2 percent). All other things being equal, McCaskill should fare better against a male opponent in the general election than a female opponent, and as a congressman at least Akin has a voting record to run against.
Incumbent Democrat Gov. Jay Nixon, who had only nominal challengers in the Democratic primary, will face Dave Spence, who won a clear 59.9 percent majority (333,388 votes) in the Republican primary even with three other no-names in the race. Since Nixon is a basically a Republican in Democrat’s clothing, he has much less to fear in November than McCaskill.
In a goofy eight-way race for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic primary, Susan Montee won handily, as most observers expected, 131,115 votes (44.9 percent), distantly trailed by The American’s endorsed candidate Judy Baker (46,168 votes, 15.8 percent). Montee has won – and lost – statewide before, previously serving as State Auditor before being defeated by Tom Schweich in the red surge of 2010. As McCaskill learned before Montee, State Auditor is a great office for building statewide name recognition, since by design the office produces audits of other government entities all over the state, invariably finding waste, incompetence and fraud, which reporters can’t resist covering.
Montee will face incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, who won a squeaker against Brad Lager, the back-stabbing state senator, 254,838 (44.2 percent) to 239,578 (41.6 percent). Kinder has close personal ties to St. Louis and is an advocate for the region in Jefferson City, but it is difficult for the EYE to root for someone who celebrates his primary victory by promising to stick it to Obamacare.
Jason Kander, who was virtually unopposed in the Democratic primary for Secretary of State, will face Shane Schoeller, who won a close three-way race against Scott Rupp and Bill Stouffer. The seat was vacated by Robin Carnahan, who is not seeking reelection in the wake of her historic trouncing by Roy Blunt in the U.S. Senate race in 2010, when her “bull detector” malfunctioned so badly she thought touring the state with a “bull detector” would appeal to voters. Speaking of malfunctioning, Carnahan is the state’s top election official and her office’s website was a lemon early on Tuesday night, as journalists and political diehards clicked and clicked to no avail.
The Democrat incumbents in the offices of Attorney General (Chris Koster) and State Treasurer (Clint Zweifel) were unopposed in their primaries. They will face, respectively, Ed Martin (who beat a marginal opponent) and Cole McNary (who was unopposed in the primary).
Hopefully Democratic hopefuls will take a close look at the Democratic Party primaries in the City of St. Louis, a bastion of the state party. They will see that the dominance of those candidates who had a strong ground game and finally acknowledge that they will have to invest in those activities if they hope to get the voter participation they will need to have any chance against the Republican tide in this state.
Some state rep races
District 66: Incumbent Tommie Pierson beat Terry L. Wilson Sr., 2,341 votes (57 percent) to 1,769 votes (43 percent).
District 67: Incumbent Steve Webb trounced Tony Weaver, 4,828 votes (73.2 percent) to 1,772 votes (26.8 percent).
District 71: Susan Meredith beat Tracy McCreery, 1,422 votes (54.5 percent) to 1,186 votes (45.5 percent).
District 72: Mary Nichols (1,514 votes, 58.4 percent) won a clear majority in a three-way race.
District 73: Courtney Curtis beat Doug Clemens, 1,667 votes (54.8 percent) to 1,373 votes (45.2 percent).
District 74: Sharon L. Pace whipped C.M. Spreng, 2,507 votes (69.2 percent) to 1,114 votes (30.8 percent).
District 75: Rochelle Walton Gray whipped Sylvester Taylor II, 3,111 votes (60.2 percent) to 2,059 votes (39.8 percent).
District 77: Kimberly M. Gardner trounced two opponents, Chris Elliott and McFarlane E. Duncan, with 2,880 votes (61.9 percent).
District 78: Incumbent Penny V. Hubbard (1,692 votes, 46.4 percent) beat Ruth Ehresman (1,248 votes, 34.2 percent) and Samuel J. Cummings III (704 votes, 19.3 percent).
District 84: Karla May (2,462 votes, 44.1 percent) won a three-way race against former TV reporter Mike Owens (1,834 votes, 32.9 percent) and Hope Whitehead (1,284 votes, 23 percent).
Incumbents in District 76 (Chris Carter), District 85 (Clem Smith) and District 86 (Rory Ellinger) were unopposed.
And finally, in a fluke that is headed for a recount, in District 87, Stacey Newman beat Susan Carlson by exactly one vote, 1,823 to 1,822.
