Former Boone County assistant prosecutor to challenge for prosecutor seat on first day of filing
Editor's note: The original version of the story said Dan Knight first won election as prosecutor in 2010; the date of Knight's first election victory has been corrected.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -
A former top assistant at the Boone County Prosecutor's Office plans to challenge for the seat this August.
Roger Johnson on Tuesday filed to run in the Democratic primary for Boone County prosecutor. He will challenge Dan Knight, who has held the seat since 2007. Knight has run unopposed for the seat since he first won election in Nov. 2006.
Johnson, an attorney currently working at the Van Matre Law Firm in Columbia, worked in the prosecutor's office for 12 years, starting in 2008. He became first assistant in the office in 2018.
Knight was the only incumbent county officeholder to field a challenger after the first day candidates could file for the August primary. Some offices will change hands, such as presiding commissioner and recorder of deeds following the retirements of Dan Atwill and Nora Dietzel respectively.
Democrat Kip Kendrick and Republican Connie Leipard both filed to run for presiding commissioner on Tuesday. A Republican has not held the seat since Ed Robb won election in 2010 by 529 votes. Leipard was the only Republican to declare a run for county office on Tuesday. Democrats have held every county office in Boone County since 2018.
Democrats Shannon Martin and Bob Nolte both filed to run for recorder of deeds. Dietzel announced on Tuesday that she would not seek the spot she held for the last eight years. Martin is the current deputy recorder of deeds, while Nolte has worked in the University of Missouri Athletics Department's compliance office for the last nine years.
Incumbents Christy Blakemore and Brian McCollum were the only ones on Tuesday to declare a run for circuit clerk and collector respectively.
No one has yet filed for either county auditor or county clerk. County auditor will change hands in 2022 after June Pitchford announced her retirement last year. Current county clerk Brianna Lennon told ABC 17 News she does plan to run for re-election.
