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Hough, Gardner win local elections; Black loses by one vote

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Two outgoing representatives won elections Tuesday night for political promotions at the local level.

Rep. Kimberly Gardner, D-St. Louis, won her primary election last night to become St. Louis’ next circuit attorney, and Rep. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, will become the Greene County commissioner for the 2nd District.

77 Gardner
Gardner

On the other hand, Rep. Linda Black, R-Bonne Terre, lost to Gay Wilkinson by a single vote in her race for St. Francois County Commissioner for the 1st District (1588 to 1587). There is no word yet as to whether or not she will request a recount, and inquiries were not returned as of publication time.

Gardner beat a field of three candidates (Mary Pat Carl, Patrick Hamacher, and Steve Harmon) with 47 percent of the vote. She will become the first African-American to serve in that role. Before she became a representative, Gardner worked for five years as a deputy prosecutor under outgoing Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. Gardner ran on a platform of rebuilding public trust with law enforcement and making diversity a priority in the circuit attorney’s office.

“I believe we worked together in the community to keep going forward despite hardships, but I felt good and I just put my head down and worked to win this election,” Gardner told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Tuesday evening.

Carl, Joyce’s preferred successor, won roughly a quarter of the vote.

Rep. Lincoln Hough won his own election with 77.7 percent of the vote over David Myers and will not face a Democratic opponent for the seat. Hough is coming to the end of his third term in the Missouri House of Representatives and expressed interest in continuing his political career at more local level.

Hough will likely be replaced by Republican Steve Helms in the House, and Steve Roberts, with his victory in the Democratic primary for House District 77 will replace Gardner in January.