Two incumbents unseated in Jefferson City
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two incumbents were unseated in Jefferson City during Tuesday night's election.
Jack Deeken lost his first ward seat to Randy Hoselton, with Hoselton securing 58% of the vote. Hoselton said he ran because of his love for the city and is excited to hit the ground running.
He said he plans to focus not only on the present status of the city, but also wants to work on establishing a solid foundation for the future.
"It's important to sustain and replace this community as people leave, and if we don't do that we're not gonna grow," Hoselton said. "I mean stagnation is not the not direction the community wants to go so we we need to really start looking towards our future."
Randall Wright also lost his seat in the fourth ward to Chris Leuckel, president of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission. Leuckel sealed the election by a wide margin, winning 68% of the votes. Leuckel told ABC 17 News prior to Tuesday's election that his focus was on serving the community, and said he plans to implement that immediately.
"That's been kind of my mantra and and my word so that's what it'll be," Leuckel said. "It'll be for the people and I'll listen, I'll engage in every possible conversation...welcome all inputs and then do what I feel is ultimately best by what the ward tells me."
Two new faces also joined the Jefferson City Council.
Treaka Young secured the vote over her challenger Amy Brix in the closest race of the night, winning 53% of the votes. Young will also serve as the only black female council member, after losing the election the year prior.
Young said she plans to ensure residents are more included in the city moving forward.
"I wanna make sure that's one thing I wanna push for after I work together to bring congruency to the team," Young said. "I wanna work for transparency and that their voices are heard and what we decide on is exposed before we vote on it."
Newcomer Mackenzie Job won the ward 5 seat over Virginia Shetler, with 61% of votes. Job, who is a business owner said she her plans as a councilwoman include improving the quality of life for those who live within her ward.
"My primary concern is my constituents, so whenever constituents come to me with concerns, my job is to work for them," Job said. "And that is my whole mission is to make sure that the people living in my ward have everything that they need to be happy in Jefferson City."
Michael Lester won the ward 2 uncontested race.
