ELECTION UPDATES: Former sheriff Chism wins Callaway County presiding commissioner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Former Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism will be back in county government soon.
Chism, a Republican, won election as presiding commissioner over Democrat Mike Conner with about 8,500 votes compared to Conner's approximately 5,300.
Democrat Suzanne Luther wins House District 60
Democrat Suzanne Luther, a former member of the Jefferson City Board of Education, has won in Missouri's 60th House District, representing Jefferson City.
Luther took 5,329 votes to Republican Shane Kampeter's 5,140 -- a difference of fewer than 200 votes in a race where more than 10,000 were cast. In the 59th House District, former Jefferson City mayor Carrie Tergin won an easy victory.
She will represent Cole County in the Missouri House.
Jefferson City voters easily approved Proposition 1, a sales tax increase for law enforcement
Decision Desk HQ calls Texas for Talarico
Democrat James Talarico is projected to win Texas by Decision Desk HQ.
Talarico was in a tight race against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. The race drew hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, including from Tesla and SpaceX head Elon Musk.
Decision Desk HQ called the race at 9:14 p.m.
First Boone County votes counted
The first Boone County votes have been counted, with the County Clerk's Office dropping its first count at about 9 p.m.
The report is for five out of the county's 61 precincts and includes absentee ballots.
While the numbers are low, the initial count has Democrat Bekki Brewer leading incumbent Republican John Martin in the 44th House District.
In the Division 9 judge race, Bill Ellis had more than 13,000 votes, compared to about 4,700 for Republican James Egan.
The first votes counted went hard against Proposition L, a sales tax to pay for a new county jail. In the first batch of votes counted, close to 11,000 people voted "no," while about 7,400 voted for the tax.
Bernskoetter to win Cole County presiding commissioner; Luther keeps lead in 60th District
Republican Mike Bernskoetter is expected to win Cole County presiding commissioner.
Bernskoetter had about 11,500 votes to independent Chuck Steck's approximately 7,100 with 20 of the county's 29 precincts reporting. Bernskoetter will take over as presiding commissioner after being term-limited out of the Missouri General Assembly.
In the race for the 60th House District, Democrat Suzanne Luther held a 52% to 48% lead over Republican Shane Kampeter with nearly 87% of precincts reporting. The seat represents Jefferson City in the Missouri House.
Republicans win in Fourth, Sixth, Eighth districts
Republican candidates are projected to win three of Missouri's U.S. House districts that include parts of Mid-Missouri.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Alford will win reelection in the Fourth District and incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Smith will win in southern Missouri's Eighth District. Republican Chris Stigall is expected to take the Sixth District, which is being vacated by Sam Graves.
Decision Desk projects Democrats to win House
Decision Desk HQ has projected Democrats to win the House of Representatives.
The vote-tracking company made the call at 8:09 p.m. based on exit polling and votes that have already been counted.
The organization is yet to call the Senate.
5,000+ absentee ballots cast in Cole County
More than 5,100 people voted with absentee ballots in Cole County.
Preliminary results showing absentee voting was shared to media by Cole County Director of Elections Matt Musselman at 7:43 p.m.
Jefferson City’s Prop 1, which asks votes if they should impose an additional quarter-center sales tax for police and fire services currently holds a roughly 500-vote advantage, per the absentee results.
Democrat Roy Cooper wins North Carolina; Ossoff wins Georgia
Democrat Roy Cooper is projected to win the North Carolina Senate race, according to ABC News.
The race has been one of the closely watched Senate contests as Democrats battle for control of Congress. Cooper is expected to defeat Republican Michael Whatley.
In Georgia, incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff is expected to win reelection against Republican Mike Collins.
Boone County turnout tops 40% with hours to go
Turnout in Boone County topped 40% with more than two hours of voting left, not counting any ballots that came in via mail.
Turnout was at 43% at 4:30 p.m., the Boone County Clerk's Office reported on the social media site X. That number only counts votes cast in person leading up to and on Election Day, so actual turnout is already higher than that.
Boone County voters are deciding whether to approve a sales tax to fund a new jail, listed on the ballot as Prop L. They're also deciding on four statewide amendments and one proposition, including Amendment 3, which would ban most abortions.
Polls close at 7 p.m.
Cole County election officials predicted turnout there could approach or exceed 50%.
Information about each ballot issue and some key races in Mid-Missouri is available on our Voter Guide page.
