Cole defeats Ziegenhorn; Keifer, Amick re-elected

BENTON, Mo. — In a race separated by 103 votes, Scott County will have a new commissioner in its First District.

Terry Cole narrowly defeated incumbent Dennis E. Ziegenhorn in his bid for the position of First District commissioner with a vote of 3,996 to 3,893 during Tuesday’s General Presidential Election.

Incumbent Donnie Kiefer was challenged by Mike Backfisch Jr. and will retain his position as Second District commissioner. He defeated Backfisch in a vote of 5,130 to 4,404 votes.

Donnie Kiefer

Donnie Kiefer

In another close race, Scott County voters decided to keep longtime coroner Scott C. Amick, 8,749 votes, over his challenger, Carl E. Rose, who received 8,544 votes.

Running unopposed and receiving the following votes were: Wesley C. “Wes” Drury, sheriff, 15,108 votes; Carla Essner, assessor, 15, 307; Julia Crader Dolan, public administrator, 15,108; and Stacey Naile, circuit court clerk, 15,087.

In a vote of 1,562 “yes” votes to 411 “no” votes, voters in the City of Scott City approved the issuance of $4 million in general obligation bonds for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving and extending the City’s combined waterworks and sewerage system.

Scott Amick

Scott Amick

Residents of Vanduser approved imposing a city sales tax of 1.0% in a vote of 50-28.

In the race for President and Vice President, Scott County cast the following votes: Donald J. Trump/Michael R. Pence, 13,769; Joseph R. Biden/Kamala O. Harris, 3,753; Jo Jorgensen/Jeremy (Spike) Cohen, 156; Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker, 29; and Don Blankenship/William Mohr, 11.

Nearly 17,816 ballots, or 68.68% of Scott County’s registered voters, were cast Tuesday, according to Scott County Clerk Rita Milam’s office. That’s slightly higher than the presidential election in 2016 when 66.52% of Scott County’s registered voters cast ballots.

In the race for governor of Missouri, Scott County voters favored incumbent Mike Parson who received 13,535 votes; Nicole Galloway, 3,794 votes; Rik Combs, 222 votes; and Jerome Howard Bauer, 72 votes.

For lieutenant governor, Scott County cast the following votes: incumbent Mike Kehoe, 13,442; Alissia Canady, 3,630; Bill Slantz, 218; and Kelley Dragoo, 83.

Running for the position of secretary of state were: incumbent John “Jay” Aschcroft, who received 14,012 Scott County votes; Yinka Faleti, 3,050 votes; Carl Herman Freese, 210 votes; Paul Lehmann, 71 votes; and Paul Venable, 107 votes.

Facing off in the race for state treasurer were incumbent Scott Fitzpatrick, 13,648 votes; Vicki Lorenz Englund, 3,444 votes; Nicholas “Nick” Kasoff, 228 votes; and Joseph Civettini, 40 votes.

Incumbent Eric Schmitt, received 13,619, and was challenged in his bid for re-election of attorney general by Rich Finneran, 3,438 votes; and Kevin C. Babcock, 293 votes.

In the race for U.S. representative of District 8, incumbent Jason Smith received 13,547 votes and was challenged by Kathy Ellis, 3,671 votes, and Tom Schmitz, 227 votes.

Scott County voters opted for Holly Rehder, 13,391 votes, over Donnie Owens, 4,003 votes, in the race for state senator of the 27th District.

Running unopposed were Jamie Burger, 148th District state representative, who netted 11,343 votes; Don Rone, 149th District state representative, 1,342 votes; and Herman Morse, 151st District state representative, 2,628 votes.

In her bid to retain her seat as Missouri Supreme Court Judge Patricia Breckenridge, received 12,324 “yes” votes and 3,659 “no” votes. Missouri Court of Appeals Judge of the Southern District, Gary W. Lynch, received 12,598 “yes” votes and 3,234 “no” votes to retain his seat.

In a close vote of 8,444 to 8,416, Scott County voters favored Amendment No. 1.

Scott County voters were in favor of Amendment No. 3 in a vote of 11,060 to 6,024.

These results, which were provided by Milam’s office, are unofficial.

“I want to thank the election judges and students who cleaned at the precincts and my staff for everything they’ve done to help with this election,” Milam said.