Jo Ann Emerson wins in 8th District, claims seat in U.S. House again

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson was never seriously challenged in her bid for a seventh term Tuesday, building on her 2006 margin of victory even as trends went against Republicans nationwide.

Emerson had received 71 percent of the vote with 420 of 476 precincts reporting across the 28-county district. She carried every county that had reported by 11 p.m.

Democratic challenger Joe Allen, who was taking less than 27 percent of the vote, conceded defeat but vowed to try again in 2010.

In a speech at Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau, Emerson said it was the quality of her staff and being attuned to the "common-sense conservative" values of the district that spurred her victory.

Emerson has enlarged her victory margin in almost every race since her first. In that 1996 election, Emerson was running as an independent seeking to take over the seat of her late husband, U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson. Since that election, despite attempts to generate a strong Democratic opposition in some years, Emerson has continued to score larger re-election victories. In the past three elections, Emerson has not received less than 70 percent of the vote.

In the Congress that convenes in January, there is a possibility of a "centrist" coalition of moderate Republicans and conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats, Emerson said after her victory speech.

"These are Democrats who are far removed from the extreme elements of their party," she said. "We may have a workable majority."

Allen said his big hurdle would be raising money for the 2010 run. "I understand the machine I am running against," Allen said.

Third-party candidates Branden McCullough, a Cape Girardeau Libertarian, and Richard Smith, a Constitution Party member from Mansfield, Mo., received 1.6 percent and 0.8 percent of the vote, respectively.