State Legislative Winners

Sen. Kurt Schaefer will now start his final term as the 19th District State Senator.Schaefer beat out Rep. Mary Still by more than 12,000 votes and announced the win around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The race was very competitive with a lot of vocal attack advertisements.From here, Schaefer told ABC 17 News he is ready for another four years focusing on funding for education as the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.”You know I feel good, I feel a little tired, obviously at this point in a campaign if you’re not tired, there is something wrong with you,” said Schaefer. “You know it was a good victory. I think we ran a good campaign and we stuck to our message. We are going to continue to fund public education at the level it needs to be funded and that will be our top priority.”Still did give a concession speech, but her campaign officials did not wish to give ABC 17 News any statements afterwards.In other state races, Republican Caleb Rowden defeated Democrat Ken Jacobs in a heated battle for the 44th District State Representative seat. Rowden has no previous experience compared to Jacobs’ nearly 30 years of experience.”We want to be a voice for entrepreneurship, small business,” said Rowden. “If we can find ways to cultivate that entrepreneurship spirit and really get to the point where we are creating a foundation for business to come into existence, I think that’s the backbone of economy.”In the 47th District race, Democrat John Wright won against Republican Mitch Richards by 548 votes. Wright told reporters he will be a strong advocate for education.”So one thing I’m very excited about is to take our Mid-Missouri principles, education and economy, to our state legislature and help the rest of our state build a strong 21st century economy,” said Wright.