U.S. Rep. Jason Smith wins re-election

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith easily won re-election Tuesday to another term as 8th District congressman.

With 390 of 470 precincts reporting, Smith had 74 percent of the vote. He received more than 191,000 votes compared to 59,548 for Democrat Dave Cowell of Farmington and 7,673 for Libertarian Jonathan Shell of Fredericktown.

Smith, R-Salem, was first elected to the House in a special election in 2013 and won election to a full, two-year term in 2014.

Smith had campaigned on the need for federal tax cuts and the elimination of what he said were burdensome federal regulations.

Cowell, who manages an electronics store, and Shell, who manages a factory production line, spent little money on their campaigns.

The Republican congressman was an outspoken supporter of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.