Contested primary comes to mixed conclusions at the polls

ST. LOUIS (Heartland Newsfeed) — From the special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District to primary elections in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington, Tuesday’s election came up with some surprising — and not so surprising — election returns.

The special Congressional election in Ohio was ordered to replace Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican, who resigned from office to work for a business group.

The race is considered too close to call, according to The New York Times, with more than 3,000 provisional ballets yet to be counted, as Republican Troy Balderson leads Democrat Danny O’Connor by 1,754 votes. Green Party candidate Joe Manchik received 1,127 votes in the race.

Ohio state election laws call for an automatic recount should the vote count difference between Balderson and O’Connor fall to less than half a percentage point (0.5%).

Balderson, a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, took Delaware, Licking, Richland, Muskingum, Morrow and Marion counties by considerable margins. O’Connor’s stronghold is in Franklin County.

Troy Balderson (R): 101,574
Danny O’Connor (D): 99,820
Joe Manchik (G): 1,127

Too close to call in Kansas Republican gubernatorial primary

The Republican primary for Kansas’ top office is still too close to call, with the potential that incumbent governor Jeff Colyer could be primaried out by Kris Kobach, the state’s secretary of state. Also, more interestingly, due to lax election laws, a bunch of teenagers were included in both the Democratic and Republican primaries — some receiving decent returns, some not. Kobach leads Colyer by less than 200 votes.

Meanwhile, Laura Kelly won the Democratic primary in considerable fashion, receiving more than twice the votes of closest challenger Carl Brewer. She will face either Kobach or Colyer following an automatic recount and certification of election results.

Gelineau victorious, Libertarians advance in first-ever party primary

Bill Gelineau was victorious against John Tatar in the gubernatorial race of the Libertarian Party of Michigan’s first-ever primary election. Out of 6,917 votes casts in the primary, Gelineau received 4,009 votes.

In Congressional races, Brian Ellison (CD-8) and Leonard Schwartz (CD-11) advanced in quick succession due to being unchallenged.

The same is true in 15 Michigan Senate races, as well as 16 Michigan House races, among them being Matt Kuehnel and Patty Malowney.

Gelineau will face off against Democrat Gretchen Whitmer and Republican Bill Schuette in the November 6 general election.

Hawley, McCaskill, Campbell, Crain advance in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and the state’s Republican attorney general Josh Hawley advanced in respective fashion during their contested primaries.

One of the candidates in the Republican primary, Austin Petersen, who presumed himself to be the frontrunner of the race, was lambasted in defeat with a measly 8.3% return at the polls.

He was also revealed to be a liar, as the only published scientific poll came out in April from Emerson College, putting him at 8% with Hawley at 37%.

Libertarian candidate Japheth Campbell advanced in an uncontested party primary, but had recommended that Libertarians pull a Republican ballot to cast a vote for Petersen. It has been misconstrued as an endorsement in some media circles.

Jo Crain advanced in the Green Party primary, defeating Jerome Bauer by less than 300 votes.

Advancing in other contested primaries for other offices include Libertarians Mark Bliss (CD-4) and Alexander Howell (CD-5).

Libertarians, independents advance in Washington “top two” primaries

While you won’t see very many Libertarians or alternative candidates on the general election ballot for higher office, there will some state legislative races where you will have that option.

Among those who advanced:

• Pierre Malebranche (I), Washington Senate District 29 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Steve Conway
• Bryan Simonson (L), Washington Senate District 36 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Reuven M. Carlyle
• C Davis (I), Washington House District 22 Position 1 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Laurie Dolan
• Allen Acosta (L), Washington House District 22 Position 2 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Beth Doglio
• Betsy Erickson (I), Washington House District 23 Position 1 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Sherry Appleton
• Donald Golden (I), Washington House District 27 Position 2 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Jake Fey
• Sydney Wissel (L), Washington House District 36 Position 1 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Noel Frame
• Matt Dubin (L), Washington House District 36 Position 2 – faces off against Democratic incumbent Gael Tarleton
• Bert Johnson (I), Washington House District 38 Position 1 – faces off against Democratic incumbent June Robinson