ST. CHARLES COUNTY — A “technical glitchâ€Â with a third-party website hindered St. Charles County’s ability to report the results of Tuesday’s primary election.Ìý
“I thought this issue with our vendor would be a five- to 10-minute fix, but it hasn’t been,†said Kurt Bahr, St. Charles County director of elections.
Bahr said glitch with the “Live Voter Turnout†website had “no effect on the vote count in any way.†He said votes cast in all 117 of the county’s precincts were secured within his office shortly after polls closed on Tuesday at 7 p.m.Ìý
Bahr’s office was eventually able to post the results online shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.Ìý
“We typically post our final results on election night between 9:30 and 10 p.m. So we are still pretty close to meeting that average time,†Bahr said Tuesday night.Ìý
People are also reading…
A contentious primary
The primary race between Republicans Max Calfo and Dardenne Prairie alderman Mike Costlow was contentious, mired with lawsuits and court hearings, and allegations of criminal wrongdoing. In the end, voters on Tuesday picked Costlow over Calfo by a wide margin.
“I think this is proof that people mean what they say, when they say that they don’t want mudslinging, the screaming, the yelling of dirty campaigns. They want to hear from candidates about what they are actually going to do for them,†Costlow said.Ìý
Costlow carried all but one of the 14 precincts in House District 108, which is located in the central St. Charles County along the Interstate 70 and Highway 61 corridors. It includes the city of Lake Saint Louis and portions of Dardenne Prairie and O’Fallon.Ìý
Costlow, who received 60% of the vote, now advances to the November general election where he will face Democrat Susan Shumway, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.Ìý
He said Tuesday that he had already spoken with Shumway and he “has a good rapport with her.â€
“Given the history of House District 108, I feel like my chances are pretty good for winning in November,†Costlow said. “That being said, I have a lot of respect for her and what she stands for and when I, hopefully, win in November I will make sure to hear her concerns just like I would for all of the constituents in House District 108.â€
The winner of the Costlow-Shumway race will replace retiring state Rep. Justin Hicks, R-Lake Saint Louis. Hicks, who served two terms in the state house, ultimately opted to not seek reelection and instead launched a short-lived bid for Congress. Hicks suspended his congressional campaign after former President Donald Trump endorsed former state Sen. Bob Onder in that race. (Onder won Tuesday.)
But even before Hicks decided to not seek reelection, the race for this House district seat was already shaping up to be especially contentious.
Last year, Calfo shared copies of protective court orders and other documents filed by a woman who said Hicks assaulted and harassed her in 2010. He also alleged that Hicks, an Army veteran had exaggerated his military record and had never served in combat.Ìý
Hicks, who had been considered a rising star in Republican Party politics, sued Calfo for releasing the records of the restraining order, which had been sealed at Hicks’ request in 2021. Ultimately, a St. Charles County judge dismissed the lawsuit in May.Ìý
Then Calfo sued Mike Costlow, who decided to run for the House seat after Hicks’ opted to run for Congress. Calfo argued that Costlow should be ineligible because of prior charges related to a “paintball gun trading scheme†that Costlow orchestrated nearly two decades ago when he was a 19-year-old living in Georgia.
Missouri law prohibits anyone with a felony conviction from holding public office.Ìý
Costlow has argued that he is eligible because he has “been exonerated by the courts in Georgia†under Georgia’s First Offender Act. Court records provided by Costlow to the Post-Dispatch show his case was “discharged without court adjudication of guilt.â€Â
A St. Charles County judge agreed, tossed out Calfo’s lawsuit and denied Calfo’s request for a new trial.Ìý
Then in July, Elizabeth Sparks, Hicks’ mother-in-law, was charged for falsely accusing Calfo, who works as substitute teacher, of sexually assaulting her daughter in class while teaching at Liberty High School. Sparks’ daughter does not attend the high school and was not one of Calfo’s students. She is scheduled to appear in court in September.Ìý
Sparks is a co-host of a conservative political podcast and owns her own media company. Her podcast “Cancel This†was created after Vic Faust was fired from Fox 2 News. Faust berated a radio show co-host in a profanity-laden rant in September 2023; he was fired shortly after a recording went public.
On Tuesday, Costlow said Calfo’s greatest error was focusing his campaign on “personal hit pieces and mudslinging.â€
“My campaign was focused exclusively on the issues, and I think, that’s why I won tonight,†Costlow said.Ìý
Other racesÂ
In addition to the House District 108 race, there were also contested primaries for three other St. Charles County statehouse races.
In Senate District 23, Rep. Adam Schnelting, R-St. Peters, emerged the victor, rolling past fellow state Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, former state Rep. Rich Chrismer and Dan O’Connell for the Republican Party’s nomination.Ìý
Schnelting received 50% of the vote compared to 28% for Christofanelli, his next closest challenger. Chrismer finished in third with 15% of the vote, and O’Connell a distant fourth with 7%.Ìý
Schnelting will advance to face Democrat Matt Williams in the November general election, where Schnelting is expected to be the heavy favorite in this deeply conservative swath of St. Charles County that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in decades. The 23rd Senate district, which has been represented by Eigel since 2017, stretches from Highway 79 eastward toward the Mississippi River communities of West Alton and Portage Des Sioux. The district also includes St. Peters, St. Charles, and portions of Weldon Spring.Ìý
In House District 64, incumbent Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon, was defeated by challenger Deanna Self, a licensed professional counselor from St. Paul who previously chaired the St. Charles County chapter of Missouri Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization. Lovasco received 40% to Self’s 60% of the vote.
In House District 104, former St. Peters alderwoman Terri Violet topped Jeremy Lloyd in the race to replace Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, who was term-limited and could not seek reelection. Christofanelli was one of four candidates vying for the eastern St. Charles County state Senate seat held by gubernatorial hopeful Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring.Ìý
Violet received 68% to Lloyd’s 32% of the vote.Ìý
The final contested primary of Tuesday’s election was a bit of a rarity in the Republican-bastion of St. Charles County, as three women faced off in the Democratic Party’s primary for House District 103 and the chance to face incumbent Rep. Dave Hinman, R-O’Fallon, in November.Ìý
In that primary, Amanda Taylor emerged the victor over Angelica Earl and Lizz Callahan. Taylor received 54% of the vote compared to 42% of the vote for Callahan and 4% for Earl.Ìý