Tuesday was a great day to be a Republican in Jefferson County.
With final, unofficial results from the Tuesday (Nov. 8) general election in, Republicans swept all the county offices on the ballot, in addition to posting overwhelming supporting the GOP’s nominee for president, Donald J. Trump.
Among Jefferson County voters, Trump walloped Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton by more than a 2-to-1 margin, 64.52 percent to 29.51 percent.
The turnout of 73.68 percent wasn’t an all-time county record – that came in November 1992, when 82.5 percent of the county’s registered voters turned out for the presidential race that featured Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, who defeated incumbent George H.W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot.
While votes are still being tallied nationwide on this year’s presidential race, the trend is clear in Jefferson County – voters preferred Republicans up and down the ballot.
■ Dave Marshak, the law enforcement group commander of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, defeated his boss, Undersheriff Steve Meinberg, for sheriff. Marshak will succeed Glenn Boyer, a Democrat who is retiring after 28 years on the job.
■ Another high-profile county office, assessor, also was open after Democrat Terry Roesch decided against running again. His hand-picked successor, fellow Democrat Todd Melkus, was defeated by Republican Bob Boyer, who represents District 3 on the Jefferson County Council. After Boyer resigns, the council will vote on a replacement, which since it almost assuredly will be a Republican, – the new County Council will be made up of six Republicans and one Democrat, Jim Kasten.
■ Council chairwoman Renee Reuter, a Republican, easily won re-election over her Democratic challenger, Roger Hendrix. The other two seats were open and both were captured by the GOP: In District 4, Charles Groeteke, a charter member of the council when it was seated six years ago, regained his seat over Democrat Jeff Roorda. Dan Stallman will be the first Republican to represent District 6 after he defeated Richard Henry, a Democrat. Cliff Lane, a Democrat, earlier announced that he would not seek a new term.
■ In other countywide races, Republican Steve Farmer turned back a challenge from Democrat TJ McKenna to win a second term as public administrator; and Republican Paula Wagner defeated former county Auditor Dorothy Stafford and will ascend to that office’s top spot, succeeding Democrat Linda Nees, who did not seek another term.
Races for judgeships in Jefferson County’s 23rd Circuit all went the Republicans’ way as well on Tuesday.
■ County counselor Carl W. “Wes” Yates III defeated Democrat Joe Rathert in Division 1 to replace Democrat Bob Wilkins, who was obligated to retire earlier this year after he turned 70. In Division 3, Democrat Nathan Stewart was denied a second term by Republican Dianna Bartels. In Division 5, Vic Melenbrink, the county’s Municipal Court prosecuting attorney, defeated Patricia “Pat” Riehl, who was appointed earlier this year by Gov. Jay Nixon to fill a vacancy created after he appointed Lisa Page to the bench of the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals.
Travis Partney, who was appointed to replace Riehl as Division 13 associate circuit court judge, also suffered the same fate as Republican Katherine Hardy Senkel was victorious.
■ It was a clean sweep for the GOP in contested races for the state House of Representatives as well, as Republican incumbents won new terms: John McCaherty easily defeated Libertarian challenger Tracy J. Scott in District 97; Shane Roden downed Democrat Del Viehland and independent Jon Schuessler in District 111; Rob Vescovo defeated Democrat Robert Butler in District 112; Dan Shaul turned back a challenge from Karen Settlemoir-Berg in District 113; and Elaine Freeman Gannon secured a third two-year term by defeating Democrat Barbara Stocker and Libertarian Charles D. Bigelow in District 115. Democrat Ben Harris won a fourth term in District 118; he was unnopposed.
The results were mixed on the two local ballot issues.
■ Proposition Blackcat Pride, a 62-cent tax increase proposed by the Dunklin R-5 School District to raise $13 million in school improvements, fell for the second straight election.
Voters turned thumbs-down on the proposal, 2,072 voting for the issue and 2,194 against. The 122-vote difference was almost twice the 66-vote margin of defeat in August.
■ Kimmswick asked its residents to approve a business license fee from for-profit museums in that city, and voters approved Proposition M, 59-18.
Final, unofficial results from the Nov. 8 election for contested races as reported by the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office. Votes reflect Jefferson County votes only, except for the Missouri General Assembly, which are for entire districts. Winners are listed in bold. (I) indicates incumbent. Party affiliations: (D) Democrat; (R) Republican; (L) Libertarian; (G) Green Party; (C) Constitution; (Ind.) Independent candidate.
PRESIDENT
Hillary Clinton (D) 31,546 (29.51%)
Donald J. Trump (R) 68,973 (64.52%)
Gary Johnson (L) 3,966 (3.71%)
Darrell L. Castle (C) 554 (0.52%)
Jill Stein (G) 930 (0.87%)
JEFFERSON COUNTY
SHERIFF
Steve Meinberg (D) 42,737 (41.55%)
Dave Marshak (R) 60,003 (58.34%)
ASSESSOR
Todd W. Melkus (D) 43,073 (42.54%)
Bob Boyer (R) 58,102 (57.38%)
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR
TJ McKenna (D) 41,208 (40.93%)
Steve Farmer (I) (R) 59,379 (58.97%)
TREASURER
Dorothy Stafford (D) 38,144 (37.78%)
Paula Wagner (R) 62,726 (62.13%)
COUNTY COUNCIL
District 2
Roger Hendrix (D) 5,172 (37.95%)
Renee Reuter (I) (R) 8,444 (61.95%)
District 4
Jeff Roorda (D) 6,625 (43.45%)
Charles Groeteke (R) 8,604 (56.43%)
District 6
Richard D. Henry (D) 5,930 (43.35%)
Daniel “Dan” Stallman (R) 8,061 (57.57%)
CIRCUIT JUDGES
Division 1
Joe Rathert (D) 47,574 (47.46%)
Carl W. “Wes” Yates III (R) 52,533 (52.41%)
Division 3
Nathan B. Stewart (I) (D) 44,797 (44.70%)
Dianna Bartels (R) 55,314 (55.19%)
Division 5
Patricia Ann (Pat) Riehl (I) (D) 44,547 (44.67%)
Vic Melenbrink (R) 55,077 (55.23%)
ASSOCIATE CIRCUIT JUDGE
Division 13
Travis D. Partney (I) (D) 38,460 (38.40%)
Katherine Hardy Senkel (R) 61,591 (61.50%)
STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
97th District
John McCaherty (I) (R) 11,496 (74.36%)
Tracy J. Scott (L) 3,963 (25.64%)
111th District
Del Viehland (D) 5,015 (29.11%)
Shane Roden (I) (R) 10,690 (62.04%)
Jon Schuessler (Ind) 1,508 (8.75%)
112th District
Robert Butler (D) 7,273 (40.33%)
Rob Vescovo (I) (R) 10,746 (59.59%)
113th District
Karen Settlemoir-Berg (D) 6,990 (42.11%)
Dan Shaul (I) (R) 9,595 (57.80%)
115th District
Barbara Stocker (D) 3,969 (26.96%)
Elaine Freeman Gannon (I) (R) 10,105 (68.65%)
Charles D. Bigelow (L) 646 (4.39%)
STATE SENATE
District 3
Gary Romine (I) (R) 54,393 (81.25%)
Edward R. Weissler (G) 12,550 (18.75%)
DUNKLIN R-5 SCHOOL DISTRICT
Proposition Blackcat Pride
(62-cent tax increase)
Yes 2,072 (48.57%)
No 2,194 (51.43%)
KIMMSWICK
Proposition M
(For-profit museum tax)
Yes 59 (76.62%)
No 18 (23.38%)