GASCONADE COUNTY — Gasconade County residents went to the polls Nov. 3 to vote in the midterm general election. It was a day that started with rain that eventually gave way to a touch of sunlight before dusk brought with it the closing of polling stations.

Turnout was good, with 48 percent of registered voters submitting ballots, but it was slightly lower than the last midterm elections. On Nov. 8, 2022, 5,678 votes were cast in Gasconade County for the state auditor. This year, that number was down to 5,209 votes.

State results have been tabulated and were official as of Friday afternoon, when the deadline to receive ballots from military service members had passed. No results changed between Tuesday and Friday.

Scott Fitzpatrick (Rep.) will remain state auditor, winning with a margin of just under 3 percent. Bob Onder successfully defended his seat from Democrat Bethany Mann to remain the U.S. representative for District 3. Onder’s margin of victory was over 8 percent. 

Sen. Ben Brown R-23 District retained his role as state senator. He received nearly 75 percent of the votes in Gasconade County, compared to 65.8 percent of the total district votes. Rep. Bruce Sassmann R-Bland won the 61st House District race for state representative by a wide margin, receiving 73.4 percent of the votes in the district. This will be the fourth and final term Sassmann can serve before reaching the eight-year limit.

All the county-level candidates in this year’s general election won while running unopposed. Ada Brehe-Krueger will remain associate judge for the Missouri 20th Judicial Circuit Court. Jenny Schneider will remain the circuit court clerk. Mary Weston will continue to serve as prosecuting attorney.

Mark Mundwiller will be taking over from Tim Schulte as presiding commissioner. Jessica Diebal will serve as the recorder of deeds. Glenda Shockley will remain the collector of revenue. Natasha Hesemann will take over the role of treasurer from Michael Feagan. Danielle Norsic will be taking over the role as clerk of the county commission and election authority. Her predecessor, Lesa Lietzow, just oversaw her final election. She will turn over the reins to Norsic at the end of the year.

“I give credit to my team and staff for being awesomely prepared,” Lietzow said after another smooth and successful round of polling was completed. She spent 40 years in local government and she believes elections will be in good hands with Norsic and the rest of the team. They will spend the better part of the next two weeks finalizing and certifying election results for the secretary of state, political parties and government organizations that record the data.

In other state results, Amendments 6 and 8 passed. Amendment 6 was approved by a nearly 20 percent margin, while Amendment 8 passed with a margin of less than 2 percent. Amendment 3 and Amendment 7 both failed to pass by margins of 11 and 21 percent, respectively. Proposition A failed with nearly 62 percent of voters opposed.

Voters approved Paul Wilson, Virginia Lay, Rebeca Navarro-McKelvey and Angela Quigless all to remain in their roles as judges.

The Gasconade County Homestead Property Tax Credit passed by a wide margin, with 4,101 in favor and 868 against. That creates an exemption from increases in property taxes on the primary residence of county residents who are 62 and older.