Moniteau County Prosecuting Attorney
Mary Kay Lutz was elected to fill the vacancy as Moniteau County's new prosecuting attorney Nov. 6.
According to unofficial results, Lutz, a Republican candidate, received 4,570 votes. Even though Lutz did not have an opponent on the ballot, voters cast 819 write-in votes. Lutz is looking forward to doing what she can to keep Moniteau County safe.
"I sincerely thank the voters of Moniteau County for electing me as your next prosecuting attorney," Lutz said. "I have a vested interest in the safety of the citizens of this county and look forward to working with our excellent law enforcement to ensure that Moniteau County stays a safe place to live and work.
"My new position will be a challenge, but one I eagerly look forward to beginning. Again, thank you, Moniteau County."
Missouri Senate
Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, will begin his work as state senator in January.
Bernskoetter won 45,532 votes in five of the seven counties the district holds: Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Miller and Maries.
"We've been traveling around the district for the better part of two years," Bernskoetter said. "Going to the picnics and festivals and the Republican meetings, and we got a pretty good feel of the people of the district, so we decided to file and we just kept doing it, we kept knocking on doors, putting out signs and talking to the people of the sixth district."
Bernskoetter will fill the seat of Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe who held the sixth district seat from January 2011 until turning in his resignation June 2018, when Gov. Mike Parson chose him to fill the vacancy left when Parson became governor.
Bernskoetter said he expects two issues to be paramount in the legislative debates once his position begins.
"I'm sure there will be some Tort reform," he said. "And there's always somebody who's interested in doing some education reform."
In Moniteau County, Bernskoetter received 76 percent of the vote. Nicole Thompson, Democrat, won 21 percent of the votes and Libertarian Steven Wilson won two percent of the votes.
House of Representatives
Rep. Sara Walsh, R-Ashland, received 11,709 votes against Michela Skelton's 3,542 in the District 50 race.
Walsh won in all four counties of the 59th District, which includes northern Moniteau and southern Boone counties in addition to northwest Cole county and a section of southeastern Cooper county. Walsh said she is ready to continue her hard work.
"It's been an incredible honor this past year and I look forward to continuing to do the good work and serve as their state representative," Walsh said. "We claimed victory for my race and I'm incredibly honored and humbled to have strong support and be re-elected in the Missouri House."
In Moniteau County, Walsh received 73 percent of the votes while Skelton got 26 percent.
Centertown Bond Issue
Voters in Centertown passed a bond issue for water service improvements, but more funding is still needed to build the system.
The town will acquire, build and improve the current waterworks system, which will be the result of the $1.5 million revenue bond.
Chairperson of the Centertown Board of Trustees Celine Whitaker said the time is right for a new water tower.
"According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources March 2016 Compliance and Operation Inspection Reporter, our current water tower that was built in 1960 is too short to provide adequate system pressure throughout the village."
The first step in this process will be hiring a financial planner.
"We are going to wait and hear form DNR, probably early next spring to see if our grant application goes through," Whitaker said.
The hope is to get 75 percent of the funding through grants. However, if Centertown does not receive funding through grants, they will go to the U.S. Department of Agriculture or other look for other grants that may be available.