WINNERS NAMED FOR CROWD OF 13

POPLAR BLUFF -- Jim Edmundson, Western District Associated Commissioner of Butler County, failed in his bid to become the Democratic candidate for presiding commissioner Tuesday.

Louie Snider garnered 1,716 votes to Edmundson's 941. He will face Republican Robert L. Manns, who was unopposed in Tuesday's primary, in the November general election.

Incumbent presiding commissioner Claude Buffington Jr., did not file for re-election.

Commissioner racers dominated the local ballots in Butler County Tuesday, with 13 candidates running for three positions.

Only 4,765 voters, 20.8 percent, of Butler County voters turned out for Tuesday's primary.

Democrat Jay Mondy, with 367 votes, and Republican Gene Hart, with 228 votes, will be on the November ballot for Western District Associate Commissioner, the position vacated by Edmundson.

Mondy and Hart each defeated two other candidates in the Tuesday primary. Other Democratic candidates and their vote totals were Kathleen Robertson, 276, and William H. Reece, 237. Other Republican candidates and vote totals were Jerry A. Barker, 144, and Tom Rankin, 143.

George Mureno, the Democratic incumbent associate commissioner in the Eastern District, had to defeat four candidates for the right to oppose Jerry Aldrich in the November general election. Mureno had 997 votes. Other Democrat candidates and votes were Sheri Eubanks, 389; Ralph "Shorty" Pennington, 148; Daryl J. Hardin, 516; and Thomas Evans, 149. Aldrich collected 719 to capture the Republican nomination over Billy H. Hamlett, who received 605 votes.

Republican incumbent Paul Hogg, a long-time office holder in Butler County, will return to his position as county collector. He received 1,199 votes to defeat challenger Gaylen E. Sanders, who received 724 votes. No Democrats filed for county collector.

In the 8th District Congressional race, Jay Thompson led four Democratic candidates with 896 votes. Thad Bullock had 673 votes, Don Hager, 273, and Gene Curtis, 254.

The statewide Amendment 4 bond issue failed in the county, 1,477 to 846.