More than 30 percent of registered voters cast ballots at the Aug. 4 primary election, which is about 2 percent more than what County Clerk Jeannie Goff had initially predicted.
The election included local, state and federal candidate races, along with four statewide amendments.
“We had a little bit higher (turnout) than average, which is always good to see,” Goff said. “You’re always going to get that when people have their own candidate they are supporting, or if a candidate is pulling a lot of support, that’ll get people out to vote. But also, I think the constitutional amendments pulled a lot of people out.”
Goff said 8 percent of all ballots submitted in the election were non-partisan, meaning voters decided which amendments and propositions to support, but did not vote on any political party candidates.
More than 5,000 voters cast absentee ballots.
“There were a lot of people asking for nonpartisan ballots, more than usual,” Goff said. “I kept hearing that during absentee (voting), and I said, you know, ‘We need to make sure we have enough nonpartisan ballots at the polls,’ and so of course we didn’t run out of anything because we were prepared for it. I think what was bringing (voters) out was probably the amendments.”
The election ran smoothly for the clerk’s office, Goff said, with only a small hiccup at the American Legion Post 283 voting precinct.
“In the morning, at the American Legion in Imperial, one of the voters, when they came in, thought they smelled gas,” Goff said. “So, they (the election supervisors) secured the poll; everyone was outside until the police and fire department got there and cleared the area. They were in and out in less than 30 minutes. I think it was just some pilots in the kitchen area that may have been out or something.”
Goff pointed out that there were a few tight races once all votes were tallied. Each Republican in the race for county clerk received 33 percent of the vote; however, Jaclyn Riebold eked out the win with 111 more votes than the second-place finisher, Brent Myers. Steve Wyatt Earp placed third, with just 65 fewer votes than Myers.
“I mean, 111 votes between the winner and the second place is a lot; I don’t see a change in that, but they are less than half of 1 percent,” Goff said. “I’ve seen two-way races close like that before, but a three-way? That’s a new one for me.”
Goff also noted a tight race for Joachim Township committeewoman in the Republican primary. Janet Engelbach received just five more votes than Natalie Winnett, with Engelbach receiving a total of 1,283 votes to Winnett’s 1,278.
At the polls
Frank Schultz, the Democratic election supervisor at the Hillsboro Community Civic Club, said voter turnout was slow on the morning of the election, but had picked up by the afternoon. The turnout was typical for a primary election, he said.
“Now it’s doing better than what we anticipated,” he said. “Your best year is actually the presidential (election).”
Schultz, 80, and his wife, Linda Jean “Jeanie” Schultz, of Hillsboro have been election judges for two decades.
Jeanie Schultz celebrated her 81st birthday on Aug. 4 with cake at the civic club.
“I joked that for her birthday so far there’s been 500-some-odd people going to her party,” Frank Schultz said.
Kelly Noack, the Democratic election supervisor at the Elks Lodge in De Soto, said approximately 646 people had cast their ballots by 3:20 p.m. on Election Day, a turnout of 25 percent.
Cathy Patton, the Republican election supervisor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in De Soto, said voter turnout had well exceeded expectations made by Goff.
She also said there were three first-time voters that day.
“We’ve been really happy,” she added.
Becky Lowry, the Democratic election supervisor at Hillsboro City Hall, said turnout had been slim by the afternoon.
She speculated that absentee voting had affected turnout similar to the 2024 presidential election.
Lowry said she voted for Brent Myers for Jefferson County clerk in the Republican primary because she had worked with him previously as an election supervisor for two elections.
“He’s the only one with experience,” she said. “Earp says he has experience in elections, but that’s only in campaigns.”
James Nicholson, the Republican election supervisor at Hillsboro City Hall, also said turnout had been slow by the afternoon on Election Day at approximately 10 percent.
He said that was on pace with the previous primary election in 2024.
Nicholson said he was one of the first people to vote that morning for Libertarian candidates.
“We need more third parties in here; there have been two for the last 250 years,” he said.
Many people electioneered outside of polling places for certain candidates, and several voters said they were pulling for certain candidates to win.
John J. Lee of Festus, Republican primary candidate for Jefferson County Council District 5, had a tent where he was electioneering and said he noticed a steady stream of people coming to vote.
“The turnout seems to be slightly above average,” he said.
Lee lost the race to Tim Bennett Jr., garnering 842 votes (21.96 percent) to Bennett’s 1,398 votes (36.46 percent). Additional candidates Anthony Pousosa received 999 votes (26.06 percent) and Misty Whetstone received 595 votes (15.52 percent).
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak was at Jefferson High School south of Festus in support of Tim Whitney, Republican candidate for Jefferson County county executive.
Whitney ran against John Stockton, winning with 16,907 votes (65.71 percent) to Stockton’s 8,823 votes (34.29 percent).
Marshak said there was a lot of activity at the site for an August primary election, particularly all the people in front of the building campaigning for different candidates.
“I’ve been coming to this (election site) for a long time,” Marshak said. “I’ve never seen this much candidate participation.”
Sherrie Maloney, 67, of the Festus area and her husband, Greg Maloney, 63, said they voted for Whitney and will vote for him again in November.
“I’ve known him since he was a child, going to church together; he was in youth group, he was best friends with my son,” Sherrie Maloney said. “He’s always been very upstanding and always made good choices. He’s worked in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for years and just been a candidate for the people, so we really admire that.”
Amendments
Many voters commented on the four constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Amendment 1, which passed, will renew a 0.1 percent sales tax to fund state parks, historic sites and soil and water conservation for the next 10 years.
Amendment 2, which passed, requires Jackson County to elect its assessor rather than appoint one.
Amendment 4, which failed, would have required citizen-led initiative petition amendments to achieve a majority in every congressional district in order to pass.
Amendment 5, which failed, would have eliminated the state income tax.
Carrie Schubert of Crystal City said she came out to vote specifically on Amendments 4 and 5.
“I’m 70, I’ve already paid my income tax; if they’re going to raise food tax, service taxes and everything else just to eliminate income tax, is that fair to us on Social Security?” she said.
Kerry Vinson, 58, of Herculaneum said he also came out to vote specifically on Amendments 4 and 5.
“Everything’s fine the way they are,” he said. “Why do we need to keep changing stuff?”
Rosanne and Don Lebaige of the Festus area said their main interest in voting was in support of Amendment 1 to continue a tax supporting Missouri parks for 10 more years.
“I’m mostly here for Amendment 1, the tax for parks,” Rosanne Lebaige said. “I’m for it.”
Don Lebaige said, “Missouri has a great parks system. It’s not well-funded as it is.”
Jude Short, 21, of Hillsboro also voted yes on Amendment 1.
“I think Missouri state parks are very valuable to all Missourians, and we should have a right to keep those lands protected,” he said.
Delaney Willis of Festus was another person whose main voting concerns were for Amendment 4 and Amendment 5.
“I’m against both of them,” Willis said. “I’m encouraged at seeing all of the people who’ve come to vote.”
Richard Huck of Festus also pointed to Amendment 4 and Amendment 5 as his main voting concerns of the day, but he supported them.
“I’m voting for 4 and 5,” Huck said. “And I want to see that the county executive stays in Republican conservative hands.”
Archie Townsend, 75, of Hillsboro voted no on Amendments 4 and 5 because he felt it would give too much authority to different parts of the state.
“Different counties in the state could override our county, and that shouldn’t happen,” Townsend said. “But if we give them the right, what are they going to do to us?”
Jeremiah Tate, 38, of Hillsboro said he voted no on all the amendments because he did not want increased taxes.
“Why should I, as a blue-collar worker, pay more in taxes and then give a tax break to rich people? Where does the American person come out ahead?” he said. “We don’t, we never come out ahead. It’s all about the rich people getting richer and the poor getting poorer.”
Susan Heine, 71, of Hillsboro said she voted yes on Amendment 4.
“I feel like the large cities decide everything, and all the ones that are not the main populated area of the state, we all feel a different way than people that live in cities do, and our voices aren’t heard,” she said.
Heine also said she voted no on Amendment 5 because it wasn’t explained well enough.
“Even though I would be in favor of the state income tax being eliminated, I feel they need to explain to us how they’re going to make up the difference before I vote for it, and that was my concern,” she said.
Rod Caldwell, 71, and Karen Caldwell, 69, both of De Soto said they voted yes on Amendment 5.
“We feel like with the other states that have gotten rid of the income tax, they seem like they’re getting way ahead of Missouri, so we feel like that’s probably a good thing for this state also,” Rod Caldwell said.
Karen Caldwell said she felt the language for all the amendments on the ballot, especially 4 and 5, was “very confusing.”
“Whoever wrote it up needs to do a better job explaining exactly what’s going on,” she said. “That’s kind of serious if it’s going to be an amendment to the constitution; it’s going to be a permanent thing. People really need to understand what they’re voting for.”
Zach Doe, 21, of De Soto said he came out to the polls to vote no on Amendments 4 and 5.
“I’m in the union, and I don’t want them to take away our rights to vote and change our income taxes,” he said. “The way it is now, I just want to pay my taxes and get it over with. When they’re going to take away income tax, where are they going to get that money from?”
