The Latest: Cleaver wins primary in Missouri's 5th District
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the Missouri primary election (all times local):
8:55 p.m.
Veteran Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City has defeated a challenger in Missouri’s 5th District as he seeks an eighth term in office.
Cleaver, 75, who was Kansas City’s mayor before he was first elected to Congress in 2004, defeated challenger Maite Salazar in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. The 5th District covers much of the Kansas City area and a portion of rural western Missouri.
Cleaver is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on Homeland Security.
He became Kansas City’s first Black mayor when he was elected in 1991. He was re-elected four years later.
In November, Cleaver will be favored in the largely Democratic district to defeat the winner of the six-person Republican primary.
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8:45 p.m.
Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler held off a primary challenge on Tuesday and will seek a sixth term in Congress in Missouri's 4th District in November.
Hartzler, 59, of Harrisonville, defeated Neal Gist in the GOP primary. She will face Democrat Lindsey Simmons in November.
Simmons, a Harvard-educated lawyer, was unopposed in the primary. She has worked for several Missouri Democrats, including former Sen. Claire McCaskill, former Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and former Rep. Ike Skelton, Hartzler’s Democratic predecessor in the 4th District.
Hartzler has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump. She disclosed last month that her family’s businesses received nearly $480,000 from a federal program to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
She serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.
The 4th District covers portions of central and western Missouri.
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8:40 p.m.
Republican Rep. Sam Graves will get a chance at an 11th term in Congress after defeating a challenger in Tuesday’s GOP primary.
Graves, 56, of Tarkio, defeated Christopher Ryan in the primary election.
The 6th District covers the width of rural northern Missouri, from the Kansas border to the Illinois border.
Graves is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Armed Services. He has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump.
The district has moved very conservative in recent years and Graves will be heavily favored in November against the winner of the five-person Democratic primary.
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8:25 p.m.
Republican Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer will seek a seventh term representing Missouri’s 3rd District in November after defeating four GOP challengers in the primary election Tuesday.
Luetkemeyer, 68, of St. Elizabeth, represents a district that stretches from the far western and southern suburbs of St. Louis west to the Lake of the Ozarks region. He was first elected in 2008 after previously serving in the Missouri House and as director of the Missouri Division of Tourism.
Luetkemeyer has been a supporter of President Donald Trump. He will face the winner of the two-person Democratic Primary.
Dennis Oglesby of Warrenton has worked in the print and promotional products industry for 16 years. He has said he believes government should be run sensibly and provide for the welfare of its citizens.
Oglesby’s opponent is Megan Rezabek, who has campaigned little but whose Facebook page says she is focused on human rights, workers’ rights and addressing climate change.
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8:12 p.m.
Missouri voters have picked Gov. Mike Parson to be the Republican gubernatorial candidate in the November general election.
The 64-year-old sitting governor faced two GOP challengers: 69-year-old state Rep. Jim Neely and 40-year-old Saundra McDowell.
McDowell made an unsuccessful bid for state auditor in 2018. She lost to Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway. Both Neely and McDowell criticized Parson for shutting down the state to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Parson’s win Tuesday means he’ll have a chance to defend his seat against Democratic Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway in November.
Parson previously served as lieutenant governor. He took over after former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in scandal in 2018.
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7:40 p.m.
State Auditor Nicole Galloway has won the Democratic nomination for Missouri governor.
Galloway, 38, faced four other Democrats with little statewide name recognition. She was the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate currently in statewide office and the only candidate to have won a statewide campaign previously.
Galloway is trying to unseat Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who served as lieutenant governor until taking over in 2018 when former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in scandal.
She has criticized Parson’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he’s not doing enough to ensure the health and safety of the public.
Galloway previously served as Boone County treasurer. Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon appointed her to be state auditor after former Republican Auditor Tom Schweich killed himself in 2015.
She ran a successful campaign to serve a full term as auditor in 2018. Her time expires in 2023.
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7:20 p.m.
Polls have now closed across Missouri for the state's primary election.
Voters across the state are deciding whether to expand Medicaid health care coverage to thousands of additional lower-income adults. Voters also are picking party nominees for governor, U.S. Congress, the state Legislature and other statewide and county offices.
In St. Louis, Democratic voters are choosing between incumbent Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her challenger, former chief homicide prosecutor Mary Pat Carl. Gardner has gained national attention for charging a couple who displayed guns when protesters marched by their home in June, and for filing a criminal charge against former Gov. Eric Greitens in 2018. The charge was later dismissed but Greitens resigned months later.
The Democratic winner will be heavily favored in the November general election in heavily-Democratic St. Louis.
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2:50 p.m.
Concerns about the coronavirus have prompted a larger-than-usual number of mailed-in ballots for the primary election in Missouri's largest county.
St. Louis County Elections Director Eric Fey said the county already had received a record 81,000 absentee ballots before election day, and more could still arrive in the mail Tuesday. Fey said in-person voting also appeared to be a little stronger than he had expected.
Election officials in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas had to call in substitute poll workers after some cancelled or failed to show up. Officials said concerns about Missouri's growing number of confirmed coronavirus cases likely played a roll.
Missouri voters are deciding whether to expand Medicaid health care coverage to thousands of additional lower-income adults. Voters also are picking party nominees for governor, U.S. Congress, the state Legislature and other statewide and county offices.
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9:30 a.m.
Election officials in Missouri's largest cities are reporting a steady stream of voters, though some poll workers didn't show up for Tuesday's primary elections.
Election directors in Kansas City and St. Louis said they each had about a couple dozen workers who were no-shows when the polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday. They attribute that partly to concerns about the coronavirus, which has been surging in Missouri in recent weeks. In both cities, substitutes were on stand by and were quickly dispatched.
Voters are deciding whether to expand Medicaid health care eligibility to thousands more low-income adults. They also are picking party candidates for governor, U.S. Congress, the state Legislature and various county offices.
Local election authorities had projected a statewide voter turnout of nearly 37%.
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6 a.m.
Polls have opened for the Missouri primary.
Voters can cast ballots from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Voters in line when polls close at 7 p.m. can still cast ballots.
Missouri voters will decide whether to expand Medicaid health care eligibility to thousands more low-income adults and also will pick the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor, U.S. Congress and the state Legislature.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson is expected to win his primary and go on to defend his seat in November. Auditor Nicole Galloway is also expected to win the Democratic primary.
Other key races include a primary for St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s seat.