Winners planning for new jobs; losers, next race

By RUDI KELLER

Southeast Missourian

The barrage of on-air advertising, direct mail and telephone calls is over, and Marble Hill, Mo., voter Lela Green was ready for it to end after voting Tuesday.

Green, who at 80 has been voting since Harry Truman was president, said she was almost unable to use her telephone with all the intrusive pleas for a vote.

"I just hang up on them because all they do is talk about each other," she said.

Now some politicians are making plans for their new jobs while some who lost are setting their sights on another run for office.

Failed Alexander County, Ill., Board of Commissioners candidate Duane "Street Preacher" Lyon is one who will continue to seek office.

Republican Michael Caldwell of Thebes, Ill., defeated Lyon, a Democrat, by winning 60.4 percent of the vote in the traditionally Democratic county. Caldwell received 1,787 votes to 1,172 for Lyon.

Lyon attributed his loss to "a problem within our party. We feel like some in our party laid down. We can't continue, as Democrats, to have the division and backstabbing within our party."

Caldwell could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

While Lyon was going down to defeat, Democratic candidate for sheriff David Barkett easily beat Republican Richard Grapentin. Barkett received 2,224 votes to 668 for Grapentin.

The day after the election wasn't a day of rest for Steve Hodges of East Prairie, Mo., the Democratic candidate who survived a $150,000 onslaught by Republican committees to win the 161st District Missouri House race. He drove to Jefferson City, Mo., to participate in his first Democratic caucus, where he will be one of seven Democrats across the state to capture a Republican-held House seat.

Hodges said he's had little chance to catch his breath after winning the seat, which wasn't decided until Mississippi County reported its vote totals just before midnight Tuesday.

"I was concentrating on winning," Hodges said. "Now I am concentrating on the political process."

Hodges and Tom Todd in the 163rd District in the Bootheel wrested two seats that had a long history of dominance by the GOP.

The new Missouri House that convenes in January will have 92 Republicans and 71 Democrats, marking the first time since 1986 that Democrats have gained seats in the lower chamber, party spokesman Jack Cardetti said.

"This was about stopping those losses, picking up seats and gaining momentum for 2008 and 2010, when large groups of legislators will be term-limited," Cardetti said.

Final election returns from the area show that on stem-cell research and statewide candidates, Southeast Missouri voters disagreed sharply with the majority of voters in the state. On every other ballot issue, area voters went along with their fellow Missourians, although not always in the same proportion.

The results locally, compared to statewide, show:

* In the two statewide races, area voters wanted to return Republican Jim Talent to the U.S. Senate and give the state auditor's office to Republican Sandra Thomas. The combined vote from Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott and Bollinger counties ran 62.4 percent for Talent and 56.3 percent for Thomas.

Statewide, voters gave the Senate seat to Claire McCaskill, who won 49.4 percent of the vote, and elected Susan Montee, a Democrat, as auditor with 52.8 percent.

* Amendment 2 was the most unpopular issue on the ballot. Voters in the four area counties cast 64.8 percent of their ballots against the stem-cell initiative, while voters statewide approved it with 51.1 percent of the vote.

* Amendment 3, the increase in tobacco taxes, was rejected by 56.8 percent of voters in Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott and Bollinger counties. Voters statewide also rejected the measure, but by a narrower margin with 51.5 percent of voters opposed.

* On Amendment 6 and Amendment 7, two little-discussed measures, voters in the four counties voted in almost the same proportions as the rest of the state. Amendment 6 gave a tax exemption to veterans organizations and received 60.9 percent of the vote regionally and 61.2 percent statewide. Amendment 7, which makes it easier for judges, lawmakers and statewide officials to get pay raises and which also denies pensions to officials convicted of felonies, received 83.6 percent of the local vote and 84.1 percent statewide.

* The minimum wage increase known as Proposition B was approved in the four area counties by 63.8 percent of voters, while 75.9 percent approved it statewide.

Local returns are also watched by unopposed elected officials for bragging rights about being the most popular officeholder. In Cape Girardeau, Scott and Bollinger counties, the honor goes to the collector in each county -- Diane Diebold in Cape Girardeau County, Mark Hensley in Scott County and Bob Anderson in Bollinger County each received the most ballots for an unopposed officeholder.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126