St. Charles County voters turned out on Tuesday to cast their support for Republican Mitt Romney -- and for Democrats Sen. Claire McCaskill and Jay Nixon.
An area that's often characterized as a Republican stronghold, St. Charles County voters split support between the two parties, backing three Democrats for statewide positions.
In the presidential race, Romney received 59.45 percent of the St. Charles County vote, while Obama received just 38.54 percent.
But 49.01 percent of St. Charles County backed McCaskill for the U.S. Senate Seat. Todd Akin received 44.81 percent support and Libertarian candidate Johnathon Dine received 5.95 percent of the vote.
Locally, St. Charles County supported Republicans for all state representative positions. Democrat Bill Otto will represent District 70, which includes a small sliver of unincorporated St. Charles County, plus Bridgeton and Maryland Heights. Former St. Charles County Republican Central Committee President Eugene Dokes lost that race.
State Rep. Anne Zerr, District 65, said the Republican candidates in St. Charles County were organized.
"We have a great ground game," she said. "It's as much organization as it is anything else... We help each other and candidates learn how to door knock and raise money."
Voter turnout was lower than anticipated by Director of the St. Charles County Election Authority Rich Chrismer, with 72.81 percent of those registered voting on Tuesday. In the 2008 general election, voter turnout was 77.82 percent.
State Rep. Chrissy Sommer, District 105, said Akin is well-liked in St. Charles County, but the race includes the entire state.
"Lots of people misspeak, but that was a hard thing to get past," she said.
Tom Manczuk, 54, of St. Charles, said he was motivated to vote by the Presidential race and the senate race. Manczuk cast a vote for Romney, although he said he supported someone else during the Republican primary.
"I think he'll do a better job than Obama," he said.
Some Democrats felt disappointed that Obama didn't make a push for Missouri. Bev Lofton, of St. Charles County, worked the polls on Tuesday campaigning for Rod Hoffman, Democratic candidate for State House District 107.
“The campaign for Obama was pretty much non-existent in Missouri—they pretty much wrote him off for Romney, which was disappointing,” Lofton said.
Lofton has a 23-year-old son who is still covered by her insurance, which is one reason she says she supports the affordable healthcare otherwise known as Obamacare.
“He works really hard everyday in the service industry, but unfortunately doesn’t have insurance,” she said. “I appreciate I can provide him with health care.”
Anita Miller, of O'Fallon, felt good about an Obama win.
“I don’t support everything about his stance on public education, however he does work with teacher’s associations and he listens to us and we’ve been able to work together for changes and I think that’s important."
How Did St. Charles County Vote?
CANDIDATE/ISSUE (St. Charles County Results) VOTES Winners in italics
US President
Barack Obama 38.54%
Mitt Romney 59.45%
US Senate
Claire McCaskill 49.01%
Todd Akin 44.81%
Jonathan Dine 5.95%
Governor
Jay Nixon 48.94%
Dave Spence 48.56%
Jim Higgins 2.44%
Lieutenant Governor
Susan Montee 37.47%
Peter Kinder 53.91%
Matthew Copple 2.70%
Cynthia Davis 5.86%
Secretary of State
Jason Kander 43.01%
Shane Schoeller 53.18%
Cisse W. Spraggins 2.77% Justin Harter 0.97%
Treasurer
Clint Zweifel 45.41%
Cole McNary 50.18%
Sean O'Toole 4.36%
Attorney General
Chris Koster 49.93%
Ed Martin 46.58%
Dave Browning 3.44%
Amendment 3 (Judges)
Yes 22.88%
No 77.12%
Proposition A (Police)
Yes 62.48%
No 37.52%
Proposition B (Tobacco Tax)
Yes 52.24%
No 47.76%
Proposition E (Health Care)
Yes 67.19%
No 32.81%
