Incumbents carry this election

Daviess County voters made few changes during the November General Election conducted yesterday. A solid voter turnout affirmed incumbents in all three local races where challenges occurred; two other county officeholders were endorsed for re- election unopposed.

Grabbing national attention was a toss-up contest between Democrat Jean Carnahan and Republican Jim Talent for U.S. Senate. The close race in Daviess County reflects what occurred statewide. Local voters chose Talent but only by a 54-vote margin. Similar results were posted in the neighboring counties of Livingston, Harrison, Gentry, DeKalb and Caldwell counties; only neighboring Clinton County voted a majority for Carnahan.

Statewide the Republican lawyer from St. Louis posted a victory by the slim margin of only 23,531 votes from the 1.8 million votes cast. Talent landed 49.9% of the votes cast (Talent 931,423) to Carnahan’s 48.6% share (Carnahan 907,892). This contest commanded national attention since the majority balance in the Senate was at stake.

Perhaps of most local interest was Daviess County’s endorsement of incumbent Jim Whorton for 3rd District State Representative. Whorton carried this county by a 589 vote margin en route to winning his first 2-year term to represent a recently remapped district. The Trenton Democrat defeated Republican Roscoe Moulthrop, his same opponent when voters sent him to Jefferson City to finish a 1-year unexpired term.

Incumbent Congressman Sam Graves won his bid for re-election, sweeping majorities in all 26 counties which comprise the 6th District. Daviess Countians backed the Republican by more than a 2-to-1 spread. His opponent, Clay County Assessor Cathy Rinehart, was underfinanced and unable to draw Rep. Graves into public debate during the election campaign.

Graves served in the Missouri House two years before his election to the State Senate in 1994. He claimed the congressional seat in 2000 by beating former state Sen. Steve Danner, the son of retiring 4-term Congresswoman Pat Danner. The 6th District spans 13,123 square miles with a population of 621,000.

Perhaps the most surprising local vote count focuses on an unusual circumstance in the race for State Auditor. Most observers anticipated incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill would win re-election, and she did. The surprise was significant votes cast for her challenger, especially from some rural counties in the state. Republican Al Hanson is a convicted felon who upset party leaders by winning the nomination in August. Despite being disavowed by state party leaders and spending about $350 of his own money during the campaign, Hanson won in some Missouri counties. In Daviess County the 72-year-old consultant tallied 927 votes.

Ballot Issues…

Daviess Countians joined voters statewide in approving Amendment 1 to allow St. Louis to form its own charter government. Local voters, however, were less enthusiastic about the proposal than the final statewide count. In Daviess County Amendment 1 garnered a 55.5% majority while the measure passed statewide with a 69.5% majority.

Amendment 2, the collective bargaining proposal for firefighters and others, failed in the county worse than statewide. Daviess Countians rejected the proposal with 62.4% voting nay; statewide the measure failed with 51.2% voting against.

Amendment 3, concerning term limit calculations for officeholders, failed in Daviess County but passed statewide. The local tally shows 58.7% voting no but statewide the proposal attracted a 54.3% majority yes vote. Neighboring counties of Clinton, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy and Harrison voted no like Daviess; Livingston County mirrored the statewide result with a majority voting yes on Amendment 3.

The proposal for joint energy contracts, Amendment 4, did not pass locally despite its purpose of saving consumers money. Voters here split nearly equally at the polls. In Daviess County a 50.8% majority cast no votes, but statewide voters approved the measure with a 57.8% majority.

Few Missourians expressed any interest in convening a convention to revise the Missouri State Constitution. The proposal appears on the ballot every 20 years as required by law. Statewide the vote went 65.3% against holding a convention; Daviess Countians voted overwhelmingly against the proposal by more than a 3-to-1 margin.

Proposition A, a proposed tax on cigarettes, was defeated in Daviess County, a result which contributed to the proposal’s slim margin of defeat statewide. Locally 62.4% of votes cast went against the cigarette tax. Statewide the proposal failed by less than 30,000 votes among the 1.7 million votes cast.

Local races…

Although incumbents won in every instance, election totals show respectable results and public support for every candidate in yesterday’s balloting. Only one outcome goes to someone other than an incumbent, and in this instance a deputy clerk experienced in the office was elected.

The first person to serve as Daviess County Recorder of Deeds since the decision to separate the office from the office of Circuit Clerk will be Democrat Georgia Maxwell. Voters gave Maxwell a 61% majority over Republican Belinda Cameron. Maxwell’s support from Jamesport and Gallatin areas mark her victory; Cameron claimed victories in just three of the 12 voter precincts.

Incumbent Associate Circuit Judge Daren Adkins won re-election over independent challenger Mike Arnold. Judge Adkins carried almost 58% of the vote, posting victories in all but two voter precincts. This will be his second term in office.

Presiding Commissioner David Tolen was endorsed in his bid for re-election. Almost 60% of those casting votes supported Tolen. Republican challenger Richard Dustman won in five voter precincts, running most strong in his hometown Jamesport area.

In the race for Circuit Clerk, Linda Adkins won re-election with a 57.5% majority and posted victories in every voting precinct over Republican challenger Judy Vyrostek. Yet, Vyrostek actually lost by the smallest actual margin of votes cast (a margin of 453 votes) in comparison to the other contested county races.