After the results of the Nov. 8 election were posted, it was clear that change will come to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, but what form those changes will take are not so clear at this point.
What is known is that the first Republican sheriff since 1930 – Dave Marshak, 46, Festus – will be in charge Jan. 1.
He will succeed Glenn Boyer, who is nearing the end of his 24th year as sheriff and opted not to run for another four-year term. Boyer replaced another prominent Democrat, Walter “Buck” Buerger, who spent 28 years on the job. Buerger was preceded by A.R. McKee, also a Democrat.
The most recent Republican sheriff was Carl D. Clark, who was elected in 1928 to a two-year term. T.E. Lanham started the trend toward the Democrats in 1930.
Marshak, the law enforcement group commander under Boyer, said he was surprised by his margin of victory – he pulled down 58.3 percent of the final, unofficial vote to Democrat Steve Meinberg’s 41.6 percent.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Marshak said of the margin. “I do know I worked hard and a lot of people worked hard on my behalf. So many people wanted a change, so that helped. That’s what it came down to.”
Marshak said he was able to interact with voters and spread his message.
“People I spoke with were excited about my ideas to upgrade the technology in the Sheriff’s Office and use it to work smarter,” he said. “I think those ideas resonated.”
Meinberg, who is the undersheriff, or second-in-command, under Boyer, was philosophical after his defeat.
“The people have spoken,” he said. “Life will go on, and the Sheriff’s Office will be well-handled, like it always has been.”
He said he was, in a sense, a victim of history.
“People are angry, and I don’t think they were necessarily looking at names or persons when they voted,” he said. “It’s hard to take it personally when you look at how every Democrat fared. The votes were indicative of straight-party voting.”
Jefferson County voters swept Republicans to victory in all the contested races for countywide offices, judgeships and local legislative positions, all by convincing margins.
Marshak said he has spoken with Boyer, who endorsed Meinberg, since the election.
“We had a nice discussion, and we talked about the transition,” Marshak said. “He congratulated me on the victory and said he’ll support the transition to make it as smooth as possible.”
Marshak said he has yet to speak with Meinberg, who is on vacation.
Under the county charter, the sheriff names his or her own undersheriff, who does not fall under the county’s merit system.
“No, we haven’t had a conversation at this time,” Marshak said on Nov. 11. “There will be time for that. Right now, the big thing to concentrate on is the budget. I’ve already had some communication with (County Council chairwoman) Renee Reuter on the budget for the Sheriff’s Office that has already been submitted and what changes I may want to make.”
A preliminary county budget has been presented to the County Council, which must pass a budget before the end of the year.
“In terms of a command staff, I haven’t had a chance to sit down with anybody yet,” Marshak said. “After all, this just happened. But I have met with a lot of the employees, some of whom supported Steve, some of whom supported me and some of whom supported both of us. I think there was some tension there, but I think that’s been addressed.”
Meinberg, 61, Imperial, said he and Marshak spoke a few times during the campaign, but confirmed on Sunday that they have not yet talked since Nov. 8.
“What’s next for me? Well, after vacation, I go back to work. After that, I guess it’s up to him,” Meinberg said of Marshak.
Meinberg said while he was understandably disappointed with the results, he has no regrets.
“You give it your best shot,” he said. “You do everything you can do. If you wake up the next morning and think that something else could have been done, then that’s a problem. But I believe I did everything I could have done. I’m good.”
Assessor-elect Bob Boyer: See you in September
Another Republican who won office by a wide margin, Bob Boyer, collected 57.4 percent of the vote to Democrat Todd Melkus’ 42.5 percent in the race for assessor.
“I don’t think anyone expected a margin like that,” Boyer said. “I think there were two things at play – the Trump factor, of course, but more importantly, I think all of us Republicans got out and worked very hard to get our messages out.”
Melkus is the office’s commercial real estate supervisor under current Assessor Terry Roesch, a Democrat who decided not to run for another term.
Boyer, a licensed professional land surveyor and project manager for the Sterling Co. in south St. Louis County, will not be sworn in until Sept. 1, 2017.
Under state law, the county reassesses all real estate property every two years in odd-numbered years, so a new assessor does not take office until the process is complete.
In the meantime, Boyer said, he will enjoy a less-hurried transition.
“The term doesn’t start until Sept. 1, so I plan on working at my full-time job until then. Hey, I have to make money, right? But it’s still early.
“I haven’t talked with Terry yet – I figured we’d do that (this) week, let the dust settle a little bit, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.”
Boyer also said he has no plans to immediately step down from his District 3 seat on the Jefferson County Council. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in November 2014.
“The voters elected me to represent them, and I intend to do that until I am no longer able to,” he said. “But we’re really in uncharted waters here. The charter spells out that the council will choose my replacement, but it doesn’t give any details on how that’s going to happen.”
He said he has not yet spoken with Melkus.
“He didn’t call me to concede, but I hope to speak with him soon,” Boyer said. “Cary Blum (the office’s real estate appraisal supervisor who ran unsuccessfully against Boyer in the August Republican primary) and I have talked and have gotten to know each other real well. I hope to do the same thing with Todd, to sit down and break bread, discuss his experience in the office and get him on board. There are 29 employees in the office and they deserve to have a smooth transition. My goal is to make the Assessor’s Office the best in the state of Missouri, and I think we can get that done.”
Other local races
After the results were posted, only one Democrat who represents all or part of Jefferson County claimed a victory on Nov. 8 – Ben Harris, who ran unopposed for re-election to a fourth term representing District 118 in the state House of Representatives. That district includes parts of central and southwestern Jefferson County and northeastern and central Washington County.
Dedrick Lee, a political science professor at Jefferson College, said he wasn’t taken back by the local GOP’s decisive victory, but he didn’t foresee that the races wouldn’t even be close.
“What surprised me in Jefferson County is that the margins of victory were so lopsided,” he said. “In most races, the Republican got 60 percent of the vote. “
In the most narrow local race, an open seat for Division 1 circuit judge, Republican Wes Yates pulled down 52.4 percent of the vote to Democrat Joe Rathert’s 47.5 percent – hardly a nail-biter, but much closer than the others.
For Division 3, Republican Dianna Bartels tallied 55.2 percent of the vote to unseat incumbent Democrat Nathan B. Stewart. In Division 5, municipal court prosecutor Vic Melenbrink, a Republican, attracted 55.2 percent to Democrat Pat Riehl’s 44.7 percent.
Riehl, an associate judge, was appointed earlier this year by Gov. Jay Nixon to fill a circuit vacancy created after he appointed Lisa Page to the bench of the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals.
Democrat Travis Partney, who was appointed to the Division 13 associate circuit court spot vacated by Riehl, was turned out by Republican Katherine Hardy Senkel, 61.5 percent to 38.4 percent.
In other countywide races, Republican Steve Farmer turned back a challenge from Democrat TJ McKenna to win a second term as public administrator, 58.8 percent to 40.9 percent, and for treasurer, Republican Paula Wagner, the chief deputy treasurer, defeated former county Auditor Dorothy Stafford, 62.1 percent to 37.8 percent, and will succeed Democrat Linda Nees, who did not seek another term.
Republicans also swept all three County Council seats by decisive margins: Renee Reuter was re-elected to a third term in District 2 over Democratic challenger Roger Hendrix 61.9 percent to 37.9 percent; Charles Groeteke, a charter council member, will return to the District 4 spot after he upended Democrat Jeff Roorda, 56.4 percent to 43.4 percent; and in the open District 6 seat, Dan Stallman pulled down 57.6 percent of the vote to Democrat Richard Henry’s 42.3 percent.
Races for seats representing the county in the Missouri General Assembly had similar margins.