READING THE BALLOT RETURNS

The votes are counted. The winners celebrated. The losers graciously bowed out. The 1994 primary may be history, but many of the candidates have hit the general election campaign trial running.

What did the primary election tell us?

For one thing, Missourians are willing to take a chance on better prisons and improved college facilities.

In a real nail-biter, the statewide bond issue squeaked to victory just after midnight. Most Southeast Missouri State University officials went to bed feeling defeated only to be pleasantly surprised when they awoke Wednesday morning.

Our city and region will directly benefit from this bond issue, which will bring $12.3 million to construct the long-awaited business building on the Southeast campus. The measure will also bring sorely needed prison space around the state.

Disappointing was the Cape Girardeau County ballot totals. The bond issue failed here and in most neighboring counties, despite the personal stake and potential benefits. It was gratifying, however, to learn the bond issue carried in the city of Cape Girardeau.

Missourians accomplished a long-overdue political first Tuesday: Alan Wheat became the first black nominee of a major party for statewide office in Missouri. We look forward to a spirited campaign with Republican winner John Ashcroft. Now if the candidates can run campaigns filled with facts instead of rhetoric, the voters will all be winners.

Ashcroft is already calling for televised debates. Such an interchange would only be useful if the agreed-upon format guarantees the candidates will really debate. Voters have been numbed by the political posturing on television that is called a debate.

At the county level, there were a number of high profile races in the primary. For the most part, local races were informative and sportsmanlike.

We congratulate Gerald Jones for his win as Cape Girardeau County's presiding commissioner. With no Democratic opposition, he will take office Jan. 1. He won in a tough field of well-qualified candidates. We take heart at his promise of fiscal responsibility.

In other statewide matters, the vote on gambling authorization in Parkville, a small suburb of Kansas City, was intriguing. That is the proposed casino with ties to House Speaker Bob Griffin and his recent political woes. Parkville voters tied on the issue.

And we were elated that the quarter-cent sales tax to finance MetroLink was a big winner in St. Louis and St. Louis County. We feel the people who use the system should pay for it instead of the state coffers.

We look ahead to November. In addition to the candidate races, there are already three constitutional amendment issues on the ballot that deal with such issues as first-class counties and alternative forms of government, whether the state should pay political subdivisions for taxes lost for park land acquisitions, and if a citizen committee should decide pay of all elected state officials.

Three initiative petition drives are also awaiting certification for the November ballot. These include, riverboat gambling and games of change, limiting campaign contributions, and Hancock II, a proposal to further limit state spending.

Politics-weary citizens should steel themselves for a busy few months. Fewer than 90 days remain until the November election.