General election brings few surprises, many voters to polls

The Nov. 6 general election brought change to Greene County, but as much as anything might be remembered for its notable turnout. Of the 163,441 registered voters in the county, 116,184 voted, for a whopping 71-percent voter participation.
The high percentage was no doubt due in large part to the many issues on the ballot, as well as a few heated races, not only locally but statewide.
While Greene County voters backed Republican candidates, they backed Democrat-supported issues, more often than not.
Locally, Republican State Senator Bob Dixon was able to keep former state representative Sara Lampe at bay for the county presiding commissioner’s seat, while state representative for the 130th District Jeff Messenger managed to maintain his position by beating hard-charging Democratic challenger Tyler Gunlock.     
Other races of local interest saw 131st District State Representative Sonya Murray Anderson keep her seat, besting Democrat Nate Branscom, and Republican Eric Burlison easily beating Democrat Jim Billedo for the District 20 state senator position.
At the state level, Republican Josh Hawley unseated Democrat incumbent Claire McCaskill for the U.S. Senator nod, and Democrat incumbent Nicole Galloway held off Republican Saundra McDowell for the state auditor’s job.
U.S. Representative Billy Long continued his tenure by beating his nearest opponent Democrat Jamie Schoolcraft by 15 percentage points.
On the issues, Greene County voters sided with the Democrats on four of the seven ballot questions.
By a margin of 2-to-1 they supported Amendment 1, which addresses lobbyist activity and campaign donations, as well as redistricting. This also passed at the state level.
Voters in the county and state also supported two of the three medical marijuana issues, Amendment 2 and Proposition C. The failing marijuana initiative, Amendment 3, was mostly funded by local attorney Brad Bradshaw, a fact opponents decried.
Another issue heavily backed by Dems and supported by Greene County voters, and voters statewide, was Proposition B, which gradually brings the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2013

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Lawrence County Record

312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com

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