Cape, Scott counties buck statewide trend on Medicaid expansion

Primary voters in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties mostly mirrored their counterparts across the state in Tuesday’s balloting, though both counties’ voters rejected Medicaid expansion.

Voters across the state approved Amendment 2, which will expand access to Medicaid, with 53% support. In Cape Girardeau County, 68% of voters opposed the measure (5,517 for and 11,756 against). Support for the measure was the same in Scott County, with 68% of voters rejecting it (6,074 against and 2,834 for).

In the Republican primary for governor, Gov. Mike Parson received 75% support across the state, with his nearest challenger being Saundra McDowell with 12% of the vote. Cape Girardeau County Republican voters gave Parson 76% of their votes, with McDowell finishing second at 9%. Parson polled at 77% in Scott County, and McDowell finished with 10% of the vote.

Democrats across the state gave Nicole Galloway 84% of the vote, with Eric Morrison coming in second with 6%. Galloway carried Cape Girardeau County with 81% of the vote. Morrison finished second with 7%. In Scott County, Galloway won with 66% of the vote. Morrison narrowly won second place with 13%, and Jimmie Matthews earned 11%.

In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, Mike Kehoe won across the state with 59% of the vote. Mike Carter came in second with 26%. In Cape Girardeau County, Kehoe earned 57% of the ballots, and Carter received 27%. The race was closer in Scott County, with Kehoe getting 45% and Carter finishing with 35%.

Democrats in the state favored Alissia Canady for lieutenant governor, giving her 74% of the vote, with Gregory Upchurch receiving 24%. Cape Girardeau voters gave Canady 70% of the ballots, with Upchurch finishing at 30%. Canady won 64% of Scott County’s votes, and Upchurch finished with 36% support.

The only other statewide primary was for attorney general. Democrats chose Rich Finneran, giving him 55% of the vote. He bested Elad Gross, who earned the remaining 45%. Cape Girardeau County voters, though, chose Gross, giving him 51% of the vote, compared to Finneran’s 49%. Finneran carried Scott County with 61% of the vote, compared to Gross’ 39%.

Party breakdown

Though the Missouri Secretary of State’s website does not provide breakdowns of how many total voters cast ballots in specific party primaries, gubernatorial votes showed Republicans cast a majority of votes in the state, 680,310 of the 1,221,005 total ballots, 55% of the total. Democrats cast 535,676 ballots in their gubernatorial primary, equating to 44% of the total. Libertarians accounted for 4,161 votes for the party’s candidate for governor, 0.3% of the total, and Green Party members cast 858 ballots for their candidate, 0.07% of the total.

In Cape Girardeau County, Republican voters accounted for 84% of the total, while Democrats made up 15% of the electorate. Other party percentages of the electorate were: Libertarian, 0.3%; Green, 0.07%; Constitution Party, 0.04%.

In Scott County, Republicans made up 89% of voters, and 11% were Democrats. Other affiliations accounted for: Libertarian, 0.06%; Green, 0.03%.