Election 2020

Eric Becking, a doctor of chiropractic, a sole proprietor with family practice clinics in Cape Girardeau and Dexter, Missouri, is seeking a full four-year term. A business owner, husband and father to five adopted daughters who attend the Cape Girardeau public schools, Becking said he and his wife have also been foster parents for seven years and have taken 15 children into their home over that span of time. Becking's website describes him as an "overcomer," detailing the loss of an index finger and thumb on his left hand at age 12 in a farm accident, a condition he declines to refer to as a disability. ...

This story is updated. Dr. Carol Meza is a physician who currently works as an adjunct professor at Maryville University in St. Louis. She and her husband reside in Burfordville and manage a small farm with goats and horses. Meza homeschools one of her children and directs a high school class. (Dr. Meza's qualifications and background can be found later in the article.)

Nancy K. Johnson is a family nurse practitioner who has lived in the Jackson area for nearly 39 years, living now just outside of Gordonville. An adjunct faculty member at Southeast Missouri State University, she works with beginning nursing students and those preparing to graduate. Johnson has 26 years of nursing experience, has been practicing in rural health since 2012 and has previously worked for both SoutheastHEALTH and Saint Francis Medical Center. ...

Absentee voting begins Tuesday, six weeks before election day, in Missouri. Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said the Show Me State has gone back to the usual rules for voting absentee. "The at-risk provision for coronavirus, passed as a temporary measure by the Missouri Legislature, expired at the end of 2020," said Summers, clerk since 2007...

Gerry Salter is a health care executive who joined Saint Francis Medical Center in 1995 and is currently SFMC’s vice president for specialty practices. Previously, Salter served Saint Francis as vice president/professional services (2015-2019) and director of orthopedics (2006-2015). ...

Matt Uchtman, a doctor of chiropractic, owns Elevation Chiropractic and co-owns Kingdom Health and Wellness in Cape Girardeau. A native of Steeleville, Illinois, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, he and his family have had residence in Cape Girardeau County for a total of 15 years. Uchtman, 40, is seeking a full four-year term on the PHC Board of Trustees. ...

Cassidy Klein is a student at Southeast Missouri State University, where she is studying entrepreneurship. Klein, a 2020 graduate of Saxony Lutheran High School, seeks a two-year term on the PHC Board until 2023. While at Saxony, she earned 18 hours of college credit, so she is a sophomore at Southeast. Responding to questions from the Southeast Missourian, Klein said she has an active political life, is involved at her church, and holds a job at Macy's while attending college. ...

Diane Howard, a lawyer with The Limbaugh Firm, was appointed in 2019 by the Cape Girardeau County Commission to replace the resigned Patricia Ray until the 2021 municipal election. Howard is running to fill Ray’s unexpired term until 2023. Howard previously served as a PHC trustee from 1993 to 2012. She left after being appointed by then-Gov. Jay Nixon to a three-year term on the Missouri Gaming Commission. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt is running for another U.S. Senate term and former Democratic state Sen. Scott Sifton is challenging him. A spokeswoman for Blunt on Monday told The Associated Press the two-term senator is planning to run shortly after Sifton announced his bid for the Senate seat...

John Freeze, a retired dentist, is an incumbent who has served five years on the trustee board and seeks a four-year term in April. He is a 1971 Cape Girardeau Central High graduate, a 1975 alumnus of Southeast Missouri State University and received his dental education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. ...

This is the first in a series of articles featuring candidates for the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center Board of Trustees in the April 6 municipal election. The trustees are unpaid and hold regular meetings monthly. Kara Clark Summers, county clerk since 2007, told the Southeast Missourian never in her tenure have so many people filed at one time to serve as PHC trustees. ...

WASHINGTON -- With 13 days left in his term, President Donald Trump finally bent to reality on Thursday amid growing talk of trying to force him out early, acknowledging he'll peacefully leave after Congress affirmed his defeat. Trump led off a video from the White House by condemning the violence carried out in his name a day earlier at the Capitol. ...

Local state senator, representatives were sworn in to the Missouri General Assembly on Wednesday. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Protesters supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, clashing with police and forcing a delay in the constitutional process to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's win.

Next week, your 117th United States Congress will convene for the first time. After the election of Speaker and the adoption of the Rules of Congress, the action will quickly move to reading aloud the electoral votes submitted by each state from this past November's election - counting them, and declaring the vote tally for President and Vice President. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart apologized Wednesday for a tweet that called Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley a sore loser for contesting President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the U.S. presidential election. The now deleted tweet, “Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #soreloser," was mistakenly sent by a member of Walmart's social media team who meant to publish it on their personal account, the company said...

Missouri’s junior U.S. senator announced Wednesday he will object during the Jan. 6 certification of the Electoral College vote in this year’s presidential election. “I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on Jan. 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws. ...

Count the Cape Girardeau School Board as less than enthralled with a proposal to move Show Me State school board races from the spring to late fall. Currently, a candidate seeking a seat on a school board in Missouri runs in the April general municipal election, which typically sees a light voter turnout...

Kara Clark Summers credits her Cape Girardeau County clerk predecessor, Rodney Miller, for bringing a bit more order to the filing process for candidates seeking public office. Miller instituted a policy Summers, clerk since 2007, continues to use as filing opens today for offices open in the April 6 general municipal election...

Mike Homeyer said for months he’s been telling most everybody he meets in Missouri’s 8th Congressional District the very same thing. “I tell them I’ll be casting your presidential vote for you,” said Homeyer, a Realtor from Salem, Missouri, who was the 8th District’s elector in Monday’s Electoral College vote in Jefferson City...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo -- Missouri's presidential electors cast all 10 of the state's votes for Republican President Donald Trump during a brief, formal ceremony Monday at the state Capitol. Though Democrat Joe Biden won nationally, Trump easily carried Missouri with nearly 57% of the vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election...