BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
Missouri voters headed to the polls on Aug. 4 for the state’s Primary Election, overwhelmingly rejecting two amendments to the state’s constitution, while Democrat Stacy Lake will face off against Alan Rohlfing, the sole Republican candidate for Jackson County Executive, in November’s General Election. Former Jackson County Legislature Chairman Manny Abarca IV, meanwhile, came in a distant fourth place in the field of six Democratic candidates for County Executive.
Amendment 4, led by Republican efforts, would have made it harder for citizens to amend the state Constitution using the initiative petition process. It would have changed the thresholds proposed by citizen-led initiatives to pass from a simple statewide majority to a majority in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.
Amendment 5 would have phased out the state income tax and give lawmakers the power to raise sales taxes. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe counted himself as a proponent of both amendments among his colleagues in the Statehouse. More than 80 percent of voters voted to strike down both amendments.
In separate press releases, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to the failure of both amendments to gain voter support.
“Tonight’s rejection of Amendment 5 is not only an immense failure for statewide leadership,” Lucas wrote the night of the election, “but also a sign to out-of-state billionaire special interests that Missourians and most Americans have no interest in voodoo tax schemes that would spare civic responsibility for a few elites while raising costs on hardworking families in our state and our country.”
The November General Election will bring a permanent replacement for ousted Jackson County Executive Frank White, unseated in a recall election last year. Interim County Executive Phil LeVota has served in that position since White’s departure. Lake, who previously lost to White in the last County Executive race, rose above a crowded field of candidates, including former Lee’s Summit Mayor Bill Baird, who had received the endorsement of Mayor Lucas.
“I learned (from previously running) that I needed to go out into the community and explain who I was, that I want to bring real change and reform to the Jackson County government,” Lake told media representatives at her watch party. “This election shows a clear mandate that the people do want to root out the corruption, they want to modernize Jackson County government, and I will do that as your next Jackson County Executive.”
Abarca’s loss concludes a closely scrutinized campaign, on the heels of a 7-0 vote by the Legislature to remove Abarca as its chairman on July 20. He will continue to serve on the governing body until January.
Abarca told Hispanic News in an exclusive interview from his watch party, “I think a lot of my personal issues came into play here. And I think my political opponents, the unions that became opponents of mine, the heavy constructors, all came out, creating more drama that was unnecessary, in an effort to make me lose,” Abarca told Kansas City Hispanic News. “And I think those things combined with everything, that’s what caused the demise here.”
For the County Legislature itself, Democrats including Kelly Thompson (District 1), Carla Fields (District 1 At-Large) and newly selected Legislature Chairwoman Donna Peyton (District 2 At-Large) join Venessa Huskey (District 2), newcomer Phyllis Hernandez (District 3), Byron Townsend (District 4), Antoine Jennings (District 5), and Tony Lawson (District 6) in advancing to the General Election.
-
At the federal level, Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who ran unopposed, will face off in November against State Rick Brattin, a Republican, to represent Missouri’s 5th Congressional District. Cleaver, 81, was first elected in 2005.
In Wyandotte County, incumbent District Court Judge Tony Martinez narrowly lost his re-election bid by fewer than 50 votes to opponent Kayla Roehler.
For a full list of the election’s final results, visit https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/results.
