The November 5 presidential election, along with a number of statewide races and ballot amendments, drew the second-largest voter turnout in recent history to the Howard County polls. A total of 73.21% of 6,838 registered voters in the county cast ballots in this year’s General Election. This was slightly behind the General Election of 2020, which had a 73.34% voter turnout, with nearly 200 more voters registered.

County voters sided with the national majority to re-elect Donald Trump as President of the United States.

Howard County Clerk Shelly Howell said last week’s election ran smoothly at all polls across the county.

“Despite a few normal election-day hiccups, all the equipment ran smoothly and was extremely helpful,” Howell said in a Letter to the Editor. “I cannot thank my staff and all my election judges enough for their dedication to democracy and the dedication to the citizens of Howard County.” (See the full letter on Page 2 of this newspaper).

Voters here backed most statewide trends in Tuesday’s General Election, with the exception of ballot measures regarding abortion, sports betting, and the minimum wage.

Locally, no races were contested, allowing all incumbents to remain in office. Those include Sheriff Jeff Oswald, county commissioners Mat Freese and Jeff Stockhorst, Assessor Woody McCutcheon, Coroner Trisha Clark, Public Administrator Lisa Asbury, and Circuit 14 Presiding Judge Scott Hayes.

The Republicans won the day here, with 71.35% voting for Donald Trump. The GOP also claimed victories here and across Missouri in state races for Governor, US Senate, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Attorney General.

Republic Josh Hawley won a second term in the U. S. Senate, defeating Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce more than two to one here and by a slightly slimmer, albeit wide, margin at the state level.

Republican Kurtis Gregory carried Howard County with 73.37% of the vote for District 21 State Senator and went on to claim the districtwide victory by a large margin. Likewise, Republican Tim Taylor won re-election for District 48 Missouri Representative with 73.51% of the vote here, defeating Democratic challenger Joseph Jefferies with more than 77% of the district vote. 

Republican Mark Alford won the race for District 4 U.S. Representative by 71% across the district and was approved by nearly 70% of voters in Howard County.

Howard County voters narrowly rejected Constitutional Amendment 2, which would allow for sports betting. Amendment 3, which would allow abortions in Missouri, also failed by 764 votes here. Howard Countians also opposed Amendment 5, which would allow a new casino to be built at the Lake of the Ozarks, and Amendment 6, which seeks to attach extra court fees to help fund law enforcement retirement plans. Voters here overwhelmingly passed Amendment 7, which would only allow US citizens to vote and prohibit ranked-choice voting. Proposition A, which called for a hike in the state’s minimum wage and would require all employers to provide paid sick leave, failed here by 13 percentage points despite passing statewide.

As Missouri has been dependably a “red” state in recent election cycles, there were really no surprises on the federal or statewide election results.  

Missouri elected a new Governor, Mike Kehoe, along with the many officeholders in the Missouri Senate and the House of Representatives, who won and are getting ready for the 2025 General Assembly, which begins January 8. Missourians decided on six ballot issues amending the state’s Constitution and state statutes.

The media attention primarily focused on two of the six ballot questions as large amounts of money flowed on both sides of the two controversial issues of legalized sports betting and abortion restrictions. Both measures passed by slim margins. Regarding the abortion question, it was expected to provide a bump to many House and Senate legislative districts for Democrats, but that result did not appear to be realized. The sports betting measure had stiff opposition from one of the largest casino operators in our state and strong support from the in-state professional sports teams. The sports betting question passed by the slimmest of margins, and Missouri will now join most of its border states in allowing this type of gaming.

Before Tuesday’s elections, super majorities were held by Republicans in the state’s General Assembly: a 111-52 advantage in the House of Representatives and a 24-10 majority in the Senate. The numbers are the same for the 2025 General Assembly.

Incumbent members of the Missouri House who lost their general election races include State Rep. Jamie Johnson (D-Kansas City) and State Rep. Chris Lonsdale (R-Liberty). For the 2025 session, a large influx of freshman lawmakers will begin their terms in the legislature. The Missouri Senate will have 10 new members in their 34-member body (29%), while the House will have 54 new members of their 163-member chamber (33%).

Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election are printed on Page 4 of this newspaper. Results remain unofficial until certified by the county clerk.