By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Many of the races on the ballots in the St. Louis area Tuesday ended with little surprise.
Jim Talent and Claire McCaskill easily won their primaries against lesser-known candidates to set up the November race for U.S. Senate in Missouri.
Another blow-out statewide was on the ballot question to renew a state sales tax to pay for state parks and soil conservation, which easily passed.
All St. Louis area state representatives, state senators, and Congressmen who faced challenges from within their own party won Tuesday.
Congress
Republican Mark Byrne won a three-way primary and will now face incumbent Congressman Lacy Clay in the First District.
Republican Todd Akin easily fended off a challenge in the 2nd district from state Representative Sherman Parker, and will face Democrat George Weber this fall.
Russ Carnahan also had no problem beating fellow Democrat Jim Frisella and will face a Republican and Libertarian in November.
General Assembly
In the open state races, Bob Onder won a 5-way race among Republicans in the 13th district to replace Scott Rupp. Rupp left the House earlier this year after winning a special election for Senator.
Rupp also faced a primary challenge for a full term as senator, but he defeated St. Charles Councilman Joe Brazil.
In the 74th district, Representative Tom George was term-limited; His son, Tony, won Tuesday's primary by 71 votes. Also, Tim Jones beat two other south-west County Republicans to replace Jack Jackson in the state House.
Two of the candidates who lost the 4th senate race are current state representatives: Yaphett El-Amin and Amber Boykins. Both woman's husbands were running for the seats their wives currently hold.
El-Amin's husband won his race in the 57th district, but Boykins' husband, Shaun Simms, did not. The 60th district went to community activist Jamilah Nasheed.
In St. Louis County, Town and Country alderwoman Colleen Wasinger beat the Fenton mayor Dennis Hancock in the republican primary for the St. Louis county council seat Skip Mange now holds. Wasinger will face Kathy Schweitzer in November.
Ballot questions
A number of ballot questions also went to voters, with most of them passing.
- Voters in Clayton overwhelmingly approved a ballot question that says the city should not use eminent domain for private development. The measure, though, is non-binding.
- Voters in Shrewbury narrowly (by 16 votes) approved a ban on pit bulls and Rottweilers that the city council recently passed.
- Voters in Farmington recalled their mayor, Charles Rorex.
Every other ballot questions in St. Louis, St. Charles, and Jefferson, counties passed, except for a bond question for Wentzville schools and a tax for the Black Jack Fire District.
St. Louis City voters also narrowly approved increasing business license fees. The same question failed in April.
Mayor Francis Slay says that hike will bring in $3 million more for the city, which he says will go to hire more police officers and sex crime investigators.