KEARNEY, Mo. — The Republican primary for presiding commissioner in Clay County proved to be an upset with former 4-term state representative Jerry Nolte unseating incumbent Pam Mason. Nolte will be facing current 2-term state Rep. Jay Swearingen.
Both candidates are campaigning hard throughout the county, but Swearingen says that he got the right opponent.
“The campaign gods smiled upon us,” he said, holding nothing back as he discussed the race with The Missouri Times. “He raised a total of about $34,000 for the primary and most of that was just anti-Pam Mason money. I don’t think a lot of that was pro-Jerry Nolte money.”
Swearingen says strategically, it is ideal to face an opponent who had a rough primary, rather than face a well-funded incumbent. Because Swearingen had no primary opponent, he currently leads the fundraising race.
The sophomore representative says his experience at the House, paired with his private sector experience in economic development and his time in the Army make him an ideal candidate for county presiding commissioner, but he doesn’t believe Nolte measures up and views him as having relevant experience limited to only the House.
But Nolte touted his 8 years in the House as a positive because of the legislation that he passed, including the Manufacturing Jobs Act, as well as his 36 years as a small business owner.
“I’ve got a better background to work with municipals and school districts than he does,” Nolte said. “I’m a small business owner – I’ve been doing that since 1978 – I think that gives me a little more insight and better experience.”
Regardless, Swearingen is not convinced that Nolte is in the race for the right reasons, saying that the Republican Party of the county has already chosen Nolte to run against Sen. Ryan Silvey, whose district includes Clay County.
“I hope to do it for a long time, whereas Jerry – win or lose – has already been picked to primary Ryan Silvey in the Senate primary in 16,” Swearingen said. “If he wins, there is no doubt in my mind that he will run against Ryan for the Senate seat in two years. It’s a free pass. I think if he loses, he’ll do the same thing, but why would you want to elect a guy that is going to spend the next two years running for another office. “
However, Nolte seemed surprised when asked about any further political plans.
“I don’t have any intentions beyond this, to tell you the truth,” Nolte said. “I’m just trying to do the right thing for the county, so no, I don’t have that in mind as a stepping stone. Maybe Jay does, but I don’t.”
Both candidates contend that they will be good as a presiding commissioner and have a vision for the county. Swearingen wants to put his economic development experience to work and implement a big picture plan that includes helping small business as much as big business. He also wants to make the park system in the county, which includes Smithville Lake, more local. Nolte wants to have a “limited, more professional government that is focused on basic services that people expect from their government.”
Both candidates are more than aware of what some would describe as an economic development mess at the county level and seem to agree that a resolution is direly needed. Mason, who set up and funded a separate association to manage economic development – the Economic Development Alliance, defunded the original county economic development organization. Nolte is on the original organization’s board, leaving Swearingen to conclude “Nolte will immediately disband the EDA when he gets there. “
“I will come in and look at all of the situation and all of stakeholders and figure out what the best way to run an economic development agency is in Clay County and I’ll work hard to get accomplished,” Swearingen continued.
Nolte alluded that it is time for Clay County to leave the issues behind that are holding them back.
“Quite frankly, I’d like to leave behind some of the areas where we have been too deeply involved,” Nolte said.
Clay County, which is immediately north of Jackson County, will elect their presiding commissioner on November 4 on a ballot without a contested top of the ticket.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
