Begley wins easily in commission race

Steve Begley rode a tidal wave of Republican support in Marion County to win a second term as Western District Commissioner in the only local race during last Tuesday’s general election.

Begley, of rural Palmyra, easily defeated his Democratic challenger, Bill Goellner, also of rural Palmyra, 5,337 votes to 1,797 while leading in all nine precincts as well as on absentee ballots.

And, his 75 percent ballot support was reflective of all the results which supported every Republican candidate on the ballot.

Turnout was heavy at polls in the out-county area including Palmyra where 1,662 ballots were cast at the American Legion Hall polling location. However, that still represented just 52 percent of the eligible registered voters in Liberty Township.

The county saw a 67.5 percent turnout overall in an election that drew 3,537 absentee voters.

Other Marion County candidates elected without opposition were sheriff, Jimmy Shinn; assessor, Mark Novak; coroner, Rick Jones; surveyor, John Janes; and public administrator, Wendy Howe, all incumbent Republicans.

Republican Eastern District Commissioner Larry Welch also won re-election without opposition.

Marion County voters were just as supportive of national and state Republican candidates, with at least 74 percent of voters casting ballots for President Donald Trump, Governor Mike Parson; Lieutenant   Gov. Mike Kehoe; Secretary of State John Ashcroft, State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, Attorney General Eric Schmitt,  District 6 U.S. Representative Sam Graves, and District 5 State Representative Louis Riggs, all of whom won election.

Marion County voters also overwhelmingly helped approved Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3 with 62 percent support.

However, county voters were also 52 percent in favor of Amendment 1, which lost statewide.

According to unofficial results, about 70 percent of the roughly 4.3 million registered Missourians voted in the general election.