Farnan, Black win in landslides

Geoffrey Woehlk
Jeff Farnan R-Stanberry

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Just over half of registered voters in Nodaway County went to the polls on Tuesday, and the results were largely as expected, with the only two contested local races ending in landslides for the Republican candidates.

Jeff Farnan, of Stanberry, won the race for state representative in the 1st District, garnering 71.8 percent of the vote in Nodaway County — his lowest share of the vote of any county in the district. Districtwide, he won with more than 75 percent of the vote.

Farnan told The Forum Tuesday night that he’s excited to get to work representing northwest Missouri in Jefferson City.

“I know that I have to big shoes to fill with Allen Andrews terming out, but I look forward to serving as your next state rep and feel that I’m up for the challenge,” he said. “I’ve said this before, but I’m willing to talk with any of my constituents of northwest Missouri — it doesn’t matter if you voted for me or not, I will listen to anyone’s concerns or issues.”

2022 1st District results

Source: Missouri State Secretary of State’s office

For state Senate in the 12th District, Rusty Black, a state representative from Chillicothe looking to switch chambers, handily won against Democratic challenger Michael Baumli, taking more than 80 percent of the vote across the 19 counties in the state’s largest Senate district by area and over 72 percent in Nodaway County.

“My wife and I both feel blessed that the people of northwest Missouri have supported us this well in this election and a lot of that thanks goes to the people that have worked in all 19 counties to help get the word out, the message out, that Rusty Black can do a good job representing them in our state capitol,” he told The Forum. “And we certainly want to thank them for all the work they put into this as well. Certainly a team effort to get to the point that we did tonight.”

Nod. Co. midterm voter turnout

Source: Missouri Secretary of State’s office, Nodaway County Clerk’s office

Democratic spending
In their most recent campaign finance reports, filed eight days before Tuesday’s election, Democratic candidates Baumli and Jessica Piper could not have been further apart on the spending spectrum.

Baumli, running for state Senate, had spent just under $2,300 on his campaign. Piper, who lapped the field in fundraising and brought in more campaign contributions than anyone who had ever run for the seat in this region, had spent more than $177,000 on her campaign for state representative.

On Tuesday, though, they both lost by similar margins, as the money spent in the race did not seem to play much of a factor in the final outcome. Baumli finished with about 19 percent of the vote while Piper netted just under 25.

However, Piper did outdo the last Democrat in northwest Missouri to run for state representative, Paul Taylor, who in 2018 managed 21 percent.

In fact, Piper scored the largest share of the vote by a Democrat in this district since 2008, when Rick Oswald came close to a third.

No Democrat has held the seat since 1992.

Geoffrey Woehlk
Rep. Rusty Black R-Chillicothe

GEOFFREY WOEHLK/THE FORUM
Voters wait to submit their ballots on Tuesday at the Laura Street Baptist Church in Maryville. Voter turnout was relatively strong for a midterm election, with just over half of registered voters in the county casting a ballot.