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Photograph of medical mask with I voted sticker attached.
Update: This live-updates story is now complete.
On Tuesday, Missourians headed to the polls to vote in a primary election that would decide, among other issues, whether the state would expand Medicaid coverage to thousands of low-income residents in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic (Amendment 2) ; Democratic and Republican candidates for the November governor's race; and a rematch between two Democrats, incumbent Lacy Clay and Cori Bush for the post of U.S. Representative in the First District.
In St. Louis, city voters weighed in on candidates for circuit attorney (incumbent Kim Gardner versus Mary Pat Carl) and treasurer (incumbent Tishaura O. Jones versus Jeffrey L. Boyd). County voters selected which Democrat would finish former County Executive Steve Stenger's term: St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page, Mark Mantovani, County Assessor Jake Zimmerman, or Jamie Tolliver (a Democrat is highly favored to win November's election).
Here are some of the results:
Update, 8:51 p.m.: The Associated Press named State Auditor Nicole Galloway the winner of the Democratic primary early in the evening. Election results around 8:15 p.m. showed that Galloway received 89 percent of the Democrat votes in Missouri, or 85,644 votes, with 4 percent of precincts reporting. SLM profiled Galloway, a Fenton native and the only Democrat among the six elected statewide officeholders in Jefferson City, in February. You can read our story here.
Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, was called as the winner of the Republican primary shortly after. As of 8:30 p.m., Parson had received 76 percent of the Republican votes, or 81,637 votes, with 8 percent of precincts reporting.
Update, 8:55 p.m.: Early returns reported on both the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KSDK websites showed that Amendment 2, which would expand Medicaid coverage to Missourians who earn less than $17,608 a year, is on track to pass. KSDK reported that it had received 227,167 yes votes, or 52 percent of the vote.
Update, 9:41 p.m.: KSDK reports that returns for Amendment 2 are now evenly split—50 percent yes votes and 50 percent no votes. The Missouri Secretary of State's website shows slightly different numbers: 1,273 of 3,575 precincts reporting, 46 percent yes votes, and 53 percent no votes.
Update, 10:52 p.m.: With 70,500 votes, St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page was selected to effectively finish out Steve Stenger's term. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner also bested her opponent, Mary Pat Carl, winning 43,425 votes. Likewise, Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones, who garnered 40,577 votes.
Update, 11:20 p.m.: In one of the primary's biggest upsets, Cori Bush, a nurse, pastor, and Ferguson activist, effectively won Rep. Lacy Clay's seat representing Missouri’s First Congressional District. Bush last ran against Clay in 2018 and lost; the 10-term incumbent Clay was elected when his father, Bill Clay, retired. Bush will run against Republican Anthony Rogers in November. Because the voting base leans heavily Democrat, she is favored to win.
St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum summarized Bush's win:
Update, 11:30 p.m.: Missourians have passed Amendment 2, expanding Medicaid coverage to more than 200,000 people. The Post-Dispatch reports that with 94 percent of precincts reporting, the measure garnered 581,673 yes votes, or 51.7 percent of the vote. Fifty percent of the vote was needed to pass.
