ELECTION NIGHT UPDATES: Buffaloe, Foster win reelection in Columbia
LINK: Full April election results
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe fought off a well-financed challenge from a local businessman to win a second term Tuesday.
With 100% of Boone County votes in, Buffaloe took 14,073 to Blair Murphy's 10,663. In the Fourth Ward race for Columbia City Council, incumbent Nick Foster won with 4,570 votes to Ron Graves' 2,775.
The one incumbent who ran for reelection to the Columbia Board of Education -- Suzette Waters -- was reelected. First-time candidate Erica Dickson also won, beating out fellow newcomer Ken Rice.
Boone County Fire Protection District voters approved a bond issue 3,904-781.
Turnout in Boone County met Clerk Brianna Lennon's prediction of 25% of the county's 125,420 registered voters.
Boone County Clerk's Office has website trouble on election night
The Boone County Clerk's Office reported issues with its website on election night.
Presiding County Commissioner Kip Kendrick posted on X that high traffic has caused the website to go down. Kendrick shared a link to where the clerk's office would upload vote tallies throughout the night.
The Boone County website is currently unavailable due to high traffic volume. Our team is actively working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Unofficial election results are posted in PDF format to https://t.co/sXNquixrt4. Link will update throughout the evening.
— Kip Kendrick (@Kip_Kendrick) April 9, 2025
Boone County tallies thousands of absentee ballots
The Boone County Clerk's Office has reported its tally of thousands of absentee ballots cast before Tuesday's election.
Incumbent Mayor Barbara Buffaloe had a large lead as she tries to fend off a challenge from businessman Blair Murphy. Buffaloe had 2,255 votes to Murphy's 1,392. Incumbent Nick Foster also enjoyed a large advantage in absentee ballots over challenger Ron Graves for the Fourth Ward Columbia City Council seat.
Incumbent Suzette Waters (2,727) and Erica Dickson (2,615) have a large advantage over Ken Rice for the two seats up for election on the Columbia Board of Education.
The Boone County Fire Protection District also enjoyed early support for its bond issue, with 428 yes votes to 78 no votes.
Thomas, Allen win seats on Jefferson City Council
Jefferson City voters have selected three newcomers to fill seats on the city council.
Derek Thomas won the Ward 3 seat over Erica Choinka and Julie Allen won in Ward 4 over Kathi Harness. Shane Campeter, also a newcomer to the council, did not face a challenge in Ward 5.
Christina Busch and Andy Wilbers won election to the Eugene Board of Education.
Cole County turnout was 8.2%.
Cole County reports absentee ballots
Cole County has reported absentee ballot totals, including for contested Jefferson City races.
Derek Thomas had the lead among absentee ballots for Ward 3 on the Jefferson City Council. Kathi Harness held a small lead in the Ward 4 race.
Cole County had 37,259 registered voters in this election with 461 absentee ballots cast.
The county clerk's office predicted turnout of about 10%. The number was at about 7.5% at about 5:30 p.m.
Polls close across Mid-Missouri; Boone County turnout near projection
Voter turnout in Boone County for Tuesday's municipal elections might meet the local voting authority's estimate, powered by a high-profile race for mayor in Columbia.
The Boone County Clerk's Office reported 19.2% turnout at 4:30 p.m. The number includes people who voted in-person absentee ahead of Election Day.
County Clerk Brianna Lennon had predicted about 25% of Boone County's 125,420 registered voters would cast ballots.
Columbia voters had a three-way race for mayor on their ballots between incumbent Barbara Buffaloe, businessman Blair Murphy and advertising professional Tanya Heath. A fourth candidate, Lucio Bitoy, mounted a write-in campaign.
Columbia also saw a contested Fourth Ward city council race, while Jefferson City had two contested council races.
School board races were also on the ballot across the state.
Polls closed at 7 p.m.
