LIBERTY, Mo. – In Kansas City’s northland of Clay and Platte County, Republicans who served in the Missouri House of Representatives saw victory in their races for county presiding commissioner. The area just north of the river is one of the fastest growing areas in the state.
Former Rep. Jerry Nolte caused an upset, unseating current Clay County Presiding Commissioner Pam Mason.
Nolte received 51.62% of the vote and will face Rep. Jay Swearingen in the general election. In the primaries, Clay County turned out over 16,000 Republican voters and over 9,000 Democratic voters.
Nolte challenged an incumbent who had come under a lot of fire in her public service career. Nolte was outspent by over $90,000 and has been directly involved in one of the economic development organizations that have caused controversy during Mason’s term.
Clay County includes Liberty, Claycomo, and Gladstone, as well as being the home of William Jewell College. Clay has a population nearing a quarter million. Whereas Clay County is represented at the county and state level by both Republicans and Democrats, Platte County is represented exclusively by Republicans at the county, state, and federal level. Platte County is home to Riverside, Kansas City, and Weatherby Lake. Platte’s population is nearing 100,000.
Rep. Ron Schieber won his primary bid for Platte County Commissioner over Jim Plunkett with 49.26% of the vote. Plunkett and his family have been very active in Platte County politics, with his wife previously running for state representative and his daughter working on campaigns and later attempting Tea Party consulting. There is no Democratic general election challenger. Schieber decided earlier this past year not to pursue a third term in the House.
Schieber ran an aggressive grassroots campaign, building upon his similarly fashioned campaign that unseated Jason Grill in 2010. He thanked his volunteers on Facebook, highlighting the volunteer activism. Platte County has gained a solid reputation for having a reliable and effective grassroots network.
Schieber credited his amazingly hardworking volunteers and a good message for the success of the campaign, telling the Missouri Times about one special volunteer in particular.
“He knocked every door in his neighborhood twice and did a lit drop,” Schieber said. “This kid is 11. He worked the poll on Election Day. His precinct took 66% of the vote – which was the best we did in any precinct, we did better in his precinct than my home precinct.”
Rep. Nick Marshall assisted the campaign, regularly rebutting attack ads from Plunkett through social media. Plunkett’s campaign ran aggressive negative ads against Schieber, highlighting and interpreting Schieber’s votes in the House, which were seemingly no match for Schieber’s volunteers.
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.
