CAPE COUNTY RACES FINALIZED

JACKSON -- Four Cape Girardeau County officers will face election battles while three won't. Filing county office ended Tuesday.

Coroner John Carpenter and Public Administrator John Ferguson face opposition in the August GOP primary, and two commissioners will have general election opponents.

Sheriff John Jordan, Treasurer Bill Reynolds and Assessor Jerry Reynolds are unopposed. Jerry Reynolds is a Democrat; the other two Republicans.

Carpenter, coroner the past 11 years, will face Wayne T. Godwin and Don "Butch" Gast, both of Jackson. Godwin is a security officer at the Federal Building in Cape Girardeau; Gast a former deputy coroner.

Ferguson, public administrator the past 11 years, is opposed by Phyllis Schwab of rural Jackson and Ken Bryan of Cape Girardeau.

Schwab has been active in business, farming and politics and is married to state Rep. David Schwab.

Bryan is an account executive with Concord Printing in Cape Girardeau. The winner will face Democrat Mike Hurst of Cape Girardeau.

The public administrator manages the affairs of citizens who have been found to be incapacitated or disabled and don't have anyone else to handle the duties. The administrator handles the financial affairs of minors who need a conservator and the estates of those in the county who die and have no surviving relatives.

First District Commissioner Larry Bock, a Republican, will face Democrat Doug Flannery of Whitewater, and Second District Commissioner Max Stovall will face former commissioner Joe Gambill, a Republican.

Jordan has been sheriff since winning election to an unexpired term in 1994. He was re-elected to a four-year term in 1996.

Bill Reynolds has been treasurer for nearly 20 years, and Jerry Reynolds assessor for 24 years.