JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on the Missouri primary election (all times local):
11:30 p.m.
Cori Bush, a onetime homeless woman who led protests following a white police officer’s fatal shooting of a Black 18-year-old in Ferguson, ousted longtime Rep. William Lacy Clay Tuesday in Missouri’s 1st District Democratic primary, ending a political dynasty that has spanned more than a half-century.
Bush’s victory came in a rematch of 2018, when she failed to capitalize on a national Democratic wave that favored political newcomers such as Bush’s friend, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
But this time around, Bush’s supporters said protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis and outrage over racial injustice finally pushed her over the edge.
Bush’s primary win essentially guarantees her a seat in Congress representing the heavily Democratic St. Louis area.
Missouri’s 1st Congressional District has been represented by Clay or his father for a half-century. Bill Clay served 32 years before retiring in 2000. William Lacy Clay, 64, was elected that year.
Bush rose to prominence while leading protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown’s death in 2014.
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11:10 p.m.
Missouri voters have signed off on a plan to make thousands more low-income adults eligible for Medicaid health care.
They adopted a constitutional amendment to expand eligibility for the government health insurance program.
Missouri is the 38th state to approve Medicaid expansion under former President Barack Obama’s federal health care law.
Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature fought efforts to expand Medicaid eligibility for years, prompting supporters to sidestep them and instead put the policy to a public vote.
By proposing a constitutional amendment instead of a new law, Missouri supporters have ensured that lawmakers will be unable to change it without going back to voters.
Missouri’s Medicaid program currently does not cover most adults without children, and it’s income eligibility threshold for parents is one of the lowest in the nation at about one-fifth of the poverty level.
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11:05 p.m.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, whose job performance has been lauded by some civil rights activists and criticized by President Donald Trump and other leading Republicans, held off a primary challenge from a former homicide prosecutor on Tuesday.
Gardner defeated Mary Pat Carl in the Democratic primary. She’ll be heavily favored in November since St. Louis voters are overwhelmingly Democratic.
Gardner has shaken up the criminal justice establishment since she was first elected in 2016, becoming the city’s first Black circuit attorney. Her decision in July to charge a white couple who displayed guns as protesters marched near their home drew an angry response from Trump, Gov. Mike Parson and other GOP leaders.
She also drew national attention in 2018 when she filed felony charges against then-Gov. Eric Greitens, accusing him of taking a compromising photo of a woman during an extra-marital affair and threatening to post it. The charge was later dropped but Greitens, who denied committing a crime, resigned in June 2018.
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10:50 p.m.
Missouri voters have picked a former federal prosecutor as the Democratic candidate to face off against Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt in November.
St. Louis-area lawyer Rich Finneran defeated former assistant attorney general Elad Gross on Tuesday to get the nomination.
Finneran, 36, served as an assistant U.S. attorney in St. Louis from 2010 to 2017. He now works at the St. Louis law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and is a law instructor at Washington University.
Finneran faces an uphill battle against Schmitt, who has considerably more name recognition and a record of winning statewide office.
Voters elected Schmitt to be state treasurer in 2016. Republican Gov. Mike Parson appointed him attorney general in 2018 after Republican Josh Hawley left the job for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
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9:45 p.m.
A little-known candidate has won the Democratic primary in Missouri’s heavily-Republican 3rd District.
Megan Rezabek defeated Dennis Oglesby in Tuesday’s primary election. She’ll face six-term incumbent Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer in November. Luetkemeyer, 68, defeated four GOP challengers on Tuesday.
The 3rd District stretches from the far western and southern suburbs of St. Louis west to the Lake of the Ozarks region. Luetkemeyer 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.
Rezabek’s Facebook page says she is focused on human rights, workers’ rights and addressing climate change. Her campaign website says she is a mother of two who also has participated in marches for women’s rights.
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9:35 p.m.
Voters have picked a former Kansas City councilwoman to be the Democratic nominee for Missouri lieutenant governor.
Canady defeated unsuccessful, one-time state House candidate Gregory Upchurch.
Canady came in third in Kansas City’s contested mayoral race last year. She’s a lawyer and previously served as a Kansas City councilwoman.
Canady is running to unseat Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who won the GOP primary on Tuesday.
Kehoe ascended to lieutenant governor during a reshuffling of statewide officials. Gov. Mike Parson had been serving as lieutenant governor until former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in scandal in 2018.
In Missouri, gubernatorial candidates don’t run on the same ticket as candidates for lieutenant governor.
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9:30 p.m.
Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday won the Republican primary, securing his spot as the GOP nominee in his bid to keep his seat.
Kehoe defeated three other Republicans with little name recognition.
Kehoe ascended to lieutenant governor during a reshuffling of statewide officials. Gov. Mike Parson had been serving as lieutenant governor until former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in scandal in 2018.
After Parson took over as governor, he named Kehoe to replace him as lieutenant governor. Kehoe had been serving in leadership in the state Senate.
Voters in November will get a chance to weigh in on whether they think Parson chose the right person to serve as the state’s second-in-command.
In Missouri, gubernatorial candidates don’t run on the same ticket as candidates for lieutenant governor.
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9:20 p.m.
Incumbent Billy Long has held off challenges from four other Republicans to win Tuesday’s GOP primary in Missouri’s 7th District.
Long, 64, of Springfield, is seeking his fifth term in Congress. He’ll be favored in the heavily Republican district in southwestern Missouri when he faces Democratic challenger Teresa Montseny in November. Montseny was unopposed on Tuesday.
Long has been an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump. He has said he wants to add two new rules that could potentially improve the safety of creek crossings permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Long is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Montseny’s website says she supports criminal justice reform. She also wants to make voting easier through automatic registration, use of mail-in ballots and making Election Day a national holiday.
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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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