U.S. Rep. Jason Smith wins GOP primary in a landslide

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith won the Republican primary for the 8th District congressional seat in a landslide Tuesday, sweeping away three challengers.

With 442 of 462 precincts reporting, Smith had garnered over 66 percent of the more than 91,000 votes cast.

Smith, R-Salem, has served in Congress since winning a special election in 2013. He was elected to a full term in 2014.

He will face Democrat Dave Cowell of Farmington and Libertarian Jonathan Shell of Fredericktown in the November general election.

Smith defeated GOP challengers Hal Brown of Cape Girardeau, Phillip Smith of Gatewood and Todd Mahn of De Soto.

The congressman received more than 60,000 votes. Brown collected more than 14,000 votes; Mahn, more than 11,000; and Phillip Smith, more than 4,400.

In Cape Girardeau County, Jason Smith received 54 percent of the vote to nearly 40 percent for Brown, with Mahn and Phillip Smith each collecting less than 4 percent of the vote.

All four candidates described themselves as conservatives who support the right to bear arms and want to lessen the burden of government on small businesses.

Among the challengers, Brown, a dermatologist, had been Jason Smith’s harshest critic. He accused the incumbent of not adequately representing constituents, contending Smith had not worked hard enough on efforts to reform the nation’s tax system and balance the federal budget.

But Smith said he favors enacting a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution and has introduced a measure to do so. He said conservative policies won’t be adopted “by one person getting elected and snapping your fingers.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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