By KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Voters in the Metro-East had plenty of elections to partake in on Tuesday, but many of them were uncontested. A number of ballot questions, mostly dealing with tax increases, went before voters, as well. Most passed.
Southern Illinois Congressman John Shimkus (19th District) did not face a GOP challenge in the primary but learned he'll face Danny Stover in the November general election. Stover gained 62% of the vote to beat retired coal miner Vic Roberts in the Democratic primary.
The Metro-East's other Congressman, Democrat Jerry Costello (12th District), faced a primary opponent in Kenneth "Bud" Wiezer. Wiezer has run for the seat before, but Costello easily handled the challenge with 90% of the vote.
Locally, longtime St. Clair County Sheriff Mearl Justus easily fended off a primary challenge from Roy Mickens; Justus garnered 80% of the vote. The Democratic Primary for St. Clair County Assessor saw Gordon Bush beat Renee Lewis by almost 3,000 votes.
Here's a look at the questions that were on the ballot Tuesday:
| Ballot Questions - Metro-East | ||
| Ballot questions that passed | Yes | No |
| Highland - Sales Tax | 617 | 365 |
| Maryville Comm. Library | 655 | 502 |
| Mississippi Valley Library | 937 | 813 |
| Triad School District 2 - Building Bonds | 1880 | 1821 |
| Waterloo School Dist. 5 - Prop. Tax Increase | 24 | 12 |
| Waterloo School Dist. 5 - Building Bonds | 23 | 13 |
| Central School Dist. 104 - Building Bonds | 330 | 87 |
| Millstadt School Dist. 160 - Building Bonds | 1422 | 718 |
| Millstadt School Dist. 160 - Property Tax Rate | 1232 | 905 |
| Ballot questions that failed | Yes | No |
| Bethalto School Dist. 8 - Prop. Tax Increase | 186 | 1185 |
| Edwardsville School District 7 - Prop S | 4125 | 4245 |
| Wolf Branch School Dist. 113 - Property Tax | 463 | 614 |