Hi all,
I'll be posting updates here for key mid-Missouri races. We've got reporters in the field at watch parties all around mid-Missouri, so we'll have the latest news, results as well as some pics and tweets. If all you want are results,click here for our live-updating statewide voting results map. We'll be following the races for President, Governor and US Senator. But we'll also be focusing on local races like US House District 4, State Senate District 19, and State House Districts 43, 46 and 47. Refresh this page often to get the latest results!
11:07 Updates, updates updates.
- House District 47: John Wright wins with 52% of the vote and all precincts reporting. Republican Challenger Mitch Richards had a strong showing despite major imbalances in campaign financing.
- House District 44: Republican Caleb Rowden eked out a hard won victory over long time incumbent Ken Jacob. Few predicted this success and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
- Proposition A: Looks like it will be a solid yes vote. 64.6% voted to give St. Louis its police force.
- Proposition B: Nobody's going to give a concession speech, but we're seeing nearly 52% saying no to the cigarette tax and 73% of precincts reporting. Could still tip, however, so keep an eye out.
- Proposition E: 63% voting yes to this measure which would prevent the governor from creating a state health care exchange, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
- Amendment 3: A huge 76% said no to this amendment which would give the governor more authority over the judicial choosing process.
- Proposition 1: The Boone County proposition which would raise taxes by a quarter percent for a health fund succeded with all precincts reporting.
10:52: Here's where we're at with Missouri races we're following. Remember, this isn't all the races, but the ones we started following at the beginning here.
- President: All the networks projecting an easy victory for Romney-Ryan.
- US Senator: Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill eked out a victory against Todd Akin.
- Governor: Jay Nixon widely expected to win; gave a victory speech a moment ago: "because we are able to work together...we are moving in the right direction."
- US House District 4: Republican Vicky Hartzler declared victory over Democratic challenger Teresa Hensley, who's poor showing netted only 34% of the vote at last count, just over 50% of precincts reporting.
- US House District 3: Easily won by Republican incumbent Blaine Luetkemeyer over Democratic challenger Eric Mayer.
- State Senate District 19: Republican Kurt Schaefer fended off a challenge from Democratic challenger Mary Still.
It's been a long night! Thanks for reading with us! We're still following a few more house races, so keep reading!
10:35: Republican Kurt Schaefer leading heavily in State Senate District 19 with 56% of the vote. Declared victory and just called in live to KBIA, saying this was "one of the most spirited senate races in the state" and "if you reelect me, you know what you are going to get."
10:20 NPR calls Missouri for Romney, which (as nobody can resist pointing out) is no big surprise.
CNN is calling the gubernatorial race for Nixon which was tighter, but still widely expected. At 55% of precincts reporting, Nixon's healthy lead approached 6% over his opponent. Libertarian candidate has netted 2.8% thus far--a healthy showing, but he could hardly be called a spoiler for Spence.
Now we look ahead to the *few* races left to be called! House District 19 where Kurt Schaefer is pulling a huge 10 points over his opponent. And also State House District 44 where the race is crazy close, just a couple tenths of a percent apart.
10:04: Akin's concession speech " To God alone be the honor and the glory regardless of how he decides to organize history." McCaskill took the stage to deliver a victor speech just a moment ago. "Mom," she said. "This one's for you."
9:47: These races are dropping like flies! Republican Vicky Hartzler is giving a victory speech shortly. Haven't heard anything about a concession speech on Teresa Hensley's side yet, but we're keeping an eye out. If official, that'll call the 4th District for US House. Hensley's performance was very poor, with 34% of the vote, nearly half of her precincts reporting.
9:41: Luetkemeyer just gave his victory speech thanking friends, family, campaign . District 3 House race is over, and we're moving on! Looks like the US Senate seat is McCaskill's but we're still keeping an eye out. Concession speech hasn't gone down just yet. We wonder if Governor race is next to go, with Republican challenger Spence down by 6 points . But no word yet!
9:35: We're hearing that Todd Akin is planning on giving a concession speech. No words on when yet.
9:32: Despite the networks projecting McCaskill success, the race closes for US Senate. Both candidates drop as Libertarian candidate Jonathan Dine surges to 6.7% statewide. McCaskill holds a lead at 51.8% with 32% precincts reporting.
It's worth noting that we're still lacking most of the precincts in democratic strongholds near St. Louis and Kansas City.
9:10 NBC and CBS are projecting that McCaskill defeats Akin for US Senate.
9:03: We've now got 13% precincts reporting, which is starting to get actually significant! The Romney-Ryan campaign is expected to easily carry Missouri and are showing nearly 58% in the state. But Democrat Claire McCaskill holds steady at 51.6%. Nixon is doing well with 52% up.
Locally, State Senate Democratic candidate Mary Still is getting trounced and is reporting only 35% in her precincts. Only 14% reporting there, so we'll keep an eye out. In the State House, Ken Jacob holds a lead in the 44th District with a slim 51%. In District 46, incumbent Stephen Webber has a strong 67% lead in the single precinct reporting.
It'll be a long night ahead!
8:45: Did you vote absentee in Boone County? (Don't worry we won't tell that you weren't actually out of town....) Our colleagues at The Missourian have this breakdownof absentee ballots in the county.
8:40: 131 precincts reporting right now. Let's check in with local races. In District 19, Republican Kurt Schaefer leads Mary Still with 64.8%. We've got reporters at watch parties with Leutkemeyer and Mayer, but none of those precincts have come in yet, so it's still early for those folks.
In State Assembly races, long timer Ken Jacob is holding out against newcomer Caleb Rowden with 53% in District 44. In District 46, Democrat Stephen Webber is doing quite well with 66% over his opponent Fred Berry. In 47% well heeled Democrat John Wright has a small lead over Republican newcomer Mitch Richards. That race is 51% to 48%.
8:31: Mary Still live on KBIA. "We've got to stand up on this cigarette tax." KBIA reporter Jessica Reese on Still's opponent, Kurt Schaefer: "He was actually very nervous."
Worth noting briefly that the cigarette tax stands at 56% NO with about 3% precincts reporting.
8:14: With 42 counties reporting, a very large majority emerges for Romney, taking 60% of the vote. McCaskill, on the other hand, doing very well at 49%, but with Akin close behind. Nixon holds his own with 50% to Spence's 46%.
To look at ballot issues for a moments, some clear trends are showing . Constitutional Amendment 3 (judicial appointments) is failing hard with 76% of voters saying no. Proposition A, on the other hand, is doing well, along with Proposition E, the health care exchange issue. Proposition B, the cigarette tax, is failing with 61% saying no.
7:44: 14 precincts now reporting in a handful of counties. Early results heavily favor Romney but the tides have turned in McCaskill's favor, 51% to 42%.
7:26: The map is populating nicely and we've got a single precinct in Monroe, Texas and Moniteau counties. Not much information to make a dent so far, but stay tuned.
7:14 Our first results are coming in. Just one precinct in from Texas County. So far these 1,000-odd votes are favoring Akin in the Senate and Romney for president. Spence is taking the lead here in this southern Missouri county.
7:00 Polls have just closed in Missouri and absentee results are rolling in. We're expecting absentee ballots to be released by the Secretary of State any minute now. Typically the absentee ballots are counted ahead of time and released as the first batch of results.