Missouri Completes November Ballot Following Party Primaries

In the partisan primary elections held on August 6, voters in Missouri solidified the field for the upcoming general election in November, which will have a major impact on the state’s representation in Congress and state government.

Lucas Kunce emerged as the winner of the Democratic Party primary with an impressive 67.6 percent of the vote, as per the unofficial results published by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office on August 7. He will now go up against his Republican opponent in November.

Rep. Cori Bush faced defeat in Missouri’s First Congressional District as Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, emerged victorious in the Democratic Party primary. Bell secured approximately 51.2 percent of the vote in St. Louis, a jurisdiction that leans heavily towards the Democratic Party.

This loss marks the end of Bush’s tenure in Congress, which began in 2020. She was part of a group known as the “Squad,” composed of nine progressive House members. Fellow Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) also lost his primary in June.

Andrew Jones, the winner of the Republican primary, will be Bell’s opponent in November. Jones, an executive vice president of business development and marketing at Southwest Electric Cooperative, contested for Congress previously in 2022.

In Missouri’s Third Congressional District, Bob Onder emerged victorious in the Republican primary, amassing around 47.4 percent of the vote, according to state sources. In the Democrat primary, Bethany Mann secured an impressive 73.4 percent of the vote and will be Onder’s challenger in the upcoming election.

Onder, a Missouri state senator, received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Mann, on the other hand, is a technology specialist from St. Peters, Missouri, as stated on her campaign website.

The Republican governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, will vacate the governors mansion in Jefferson City due to term limits. As no Democrat has held the position since 2017 when Jay Nixon left office, the upcoming election will be particularly significant for the future of the governorship.

In the Republican Party primary, Wasinger, an attorney at corporate law firm Wasinger Daming LC, emerged victorious with around 31.4 percent of the vote, defeating Missouri state Sen. Lincoln Hough.

On the Democratic ticket, Bailey will now face Elad Gross, who ran unopposed. Gross previously served as an assistant attorney general under former Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.