SALINE CARRIES NOLTE TO NOVEMBER BALLOT; GREGORY ADVANCES IN STATE SENATE RACE

Saline County Republican voters provided ballast for two candidates who successfully won their primary contest for open seats in the Missouri General Assembly.

Marshall’s Kurtis Gregory won four of the six counties in the 21st Senatorial District to defeat Excelsior Springs’ Doug Richey with 56 percent of the vote (14,940-11,442). Gregory won Saline County by a three-to-one margin (2592-846) and picked up solid margins in Cooper, Howard and Lafayette counties. Richey had a majority of votes in Clay and Ray counties, the two counties his house district covered, but only claimed 59 percent of the vote in suburban Clay County (5406-3644) and had a 200-vote margin in Ray County (2139-1914). Gregory will face Jim Bates of Liberty, who had no challengers in the Democratic primary.

Land surveyor Mark Nolte defeated Lafayette County sheriff Kerrick Alumbaugh by 217 votes (3253-3036) to win the Republican nod for the Missouri House 51st District. Nolte earned just over two-thirds of the vote in Saline County (2123-1059), more than offsetting the 847-vote margin Alumbaugh received in Lafayette County (1977-1130). Nolte will face Glenda Bainbridge in November, after Bainbridge ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Elsewhere, voters in Concordia’s Fire Protection District approved the issuance of $4 million in general obligation bonds to purchase new equipment and fire apparati. The unofficial vote total was 765-138, with overwhelming majorities reported in all three counties served by the district.

Saline County Primary Results (unofficial)

Lafayette County Primary Results (unofficial)