Unofficial results see Lewis County posts Missouri’s third-highest turnout; Hoffman and Sapp win contested county races

LEWIS COUNTY, Mo. — Lewis County voters made their voices heard Tuesday, casting 2,330 ballots in the Aug. 4 primary election and producing one of the strongest voter turnout rates in Missouri.

Unofficial results show 37.54% of the county’s 6,206 registered voters participated, with all eight Lewis County precincts reporting. A comparison of turnout figures from across Missouri placed Lewis County third in the state, behind only Cole County at 43.73% and Platte County at 38.74%.

That level of participation deserves recognition. Primary elections often draw fewer voters than general elections, but more than one out of every three registered voters in Lewis County took the time to cast a ballot and help decide who will move forward.

Hoffman wins presiding commissioner primary

Dalton “Fuzzy” Hoffman won the Republican primary for Lewis County presiding commissioner with 1,224 votes, or 60.99%.

Brian Munzlinger received 461 votes, or 22.97%, while Wayne “Fid” Murphy Jr. received 322 votes, or 16.04%.

No Democratic primary contest for presiding commissioner appeared in the county’s unofficial summary report.

Sapp wins county clerk race

Incumbent Shannon Sapp won the Republican primary for Lewis County clerk with 1,020 votes, or 54.17%.

Tiffany A. Blickhan received 863 votes, or 45.83%. The 157-vote margin made the clerk’s contest the closest of the county’s two contested Republican races.

Several other Republican candidates for county office were unopposed in the primary. Julie George received 1,766 votes for circuit clerk; Amy Parrish received 1,790 for recorder of deeds; Traci Bringer received 1,789 for treasurer; Chelsea L. Fellinger received 1,752 for prosecuting attorney; and Lindsey Lay received 1,758 for collector.

Corey R. Moon was unopposed in the Republican primary for associate circuit judge and received 1,796 votes.

Ambulance district question receives strong support

Lewis County voters approved the Lewis County Ambulance District Expanded Property Tax Relief Question.

The measure received 1,560 yes votes, or 68.42%, and 720 no votes, or 31.58%.

Sharpe leads State Senate vote in Lewis County

In the Republican primary for Missouri Senate District 18, Greg Sharpe received 1,416 Lewis County votes, or 70.38%. Dusty Blue received 369 votes, or 18.34%, and Ed Lewis received 227 votes, or 11.28%.

On the Democratic ballot, Nick Miller received 137 Lewis County votes, or 69.90%, while John Leykamp received 59 votes, or 30.10%.

Keith Gudehus was unopposed in the Republican primary for Missouri House District 4 and received 1,644 votes in Lewis County. Tristan Sutton was unopposed on the Democratic ballot and received 184 votes.

Lewis County differs from districtwide congressional result

Lewis County Republicans favored Nathan Hall Willett in the five-candidate primary for Missouri’s 6th Congressional District. Willett received 564 votes, or 32.06%, followed by Chris Stigall with 447 votes, or 25.41%; Nathanael Schultz with 401, or 22.80%; Jim Ingram with 294, or 16.71%; and Cody J. Oshel with 53, or 3.01%.

Although Willett led in Lewis County, Stigall won the Republican nomination districtwide, according to statewide election-night results.

On the Democratic ballot in Lewis County, Josh Smead received 90 votes, or 46.63%; Matt Levine received 71, or 36.79%; and Scot Pondelick received 32, or 16.58%. Smead won the Democratic nomination districtwide.

Lewis County voters split on constitutional amendments

Lewis County voters supported Constitutional Amendments 1 and 2 while rejecting Amendments 4 and 5.

Amendment 1, which continues the existing one-tenth of 1% sales and use tax for soil and water conservation and state parks and historic sites for another 10 years, received 1,752 yes votes, or 77.15%, and 519 no votes, or 22.85%.

Amendment 2, requiring all charter counties to elect a county assessor and requiring those assessors to comply with state training requirements, received 1,631 yes votes, or 73.93%, and 575 no votes, or 26.07%.

Amendment 4, which would have required proposed constitutional amendments placed on the ballot through the initiative petition process to receive majority approval in every congressional district, received 782 yes votes, or 34.65%, and 1,475 no votes, or 65.35%.

Amendment 5, concerning a potential phaseout of the individual state income tax and authorization for expanded sales and use taxes, received 411 yes votes, or 18.05%, and 1,866 no votes, or 81.95%.

Lewis County showed up

The strongest message from Tuesday may be the turnout itself. Lewis County voters followed the candidates and issues and went to the polls in numbers that placed the county near the top of Missouri.

The Lewis County Scoop thanks everyone who tuned in to our election coverage, watched or listened to candidate interviews, read the articles, asked questions and shared information with neighbors.

Supporting informed participation does not mean telling anyone how to vote. It means giving candidates an opportunity to speak and giving voters a better chance to hear directly from them before making their own decisions.

We also thank every candidate who stepped forward to run, along with the election officials, poll workers and volunteers who carried out Tuesday’s election.

Whether a preferred candidate won or lost, Lewis County can take pride in showing up. That is what local democracy is supposed to look like.

All results in this article are unofficial and remain subject to certification.

You may view the unofficial results pdf supplied below

You may check all statewide results at the Missouri Secretary of State