Republican incumbent Mike Bernskoetter is heading back to the state Senate after winning re-election Tuesday with 55.5 percent of the vote.
Voters in the 6th Senate District retained the first-term senator and Jefferson City businessman during the Aug. 2 Republican primary. No other candidates from other parties have filed to run in the district, meaning Bernskoetter is the only choice on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Bernskoetter received 17,438 of the Republican votes (55.491 percent) and Scott Riedel, a Lake Ozark Republican and U.S. Army veteran, received 13,987 votes (44.509 percent).
"Obviously, this is something that you don't do by yourself," Bernskoetter said Tuesday at his watch party. "You know, you have a lot of support with friends and family, and people who just reach out to you and offer to help; it's pretty amazing. It's a humbling experience, the people that want to help. It's a really neat experience."
Riedel declined to comment on the election results.
In the neighboring 10th Senate District race, state Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, became the Republican nominee after narrowly winning a five-way primary.
The win sets him up for a general election run against Libertarian candidate Catherine Dreher.
Fitzwater received 7,620 Republican votes (31.948 percent), followed by Wentzville judge Mike Carter with 6,938 votes (29.089 percent), former state Rep. Bryan Spencer with 5,484 votes (22.993 percent), state Rep. Jeff Porter with 3,339 votes (13.999 percent) and Joshua Price with 470 votes (1.971 percent).
Vote totals are unofficial results from the Missouri secretary of state.
Senate 6th District campaigns
The race for Missouri's 6th Senate District was heavily cen tered around Bernskoetter's voting record, which Riedel contended isn't representative of the district.
Riedel, who has lived in Camden County for five years, joined the race after disagreeing with a series of procedural votes Bernskoetter made on issues related to state funding for abortion providers, transgender students participating in sports that don't correspond to their sex at birth, and his support for the state's gas tax increase.
Bernskoetter pushed back on the critiques by brandishing his conservative bonafides, such as his votes in support of Missouri's near-total abortion ban and the trigger law that put it into effect, supporting the state's largest tax cut and carrying measures to assist farmers and small businesses.
Bernskoetter was also the better funded candidate having raised more than six times Riedel and spending more than eight times his challenger throughout the campaign season. Bernskoetter had spent nearly $224,000 on his re-election bid by July 21, largely fueled by PAC contributions.
Senate 10th District campaigns
The Republican primary for Missouri's 10th Senate District garnered a sizable field of candidates from across the newly defined district, which now stretches from the western edge of Callaway County to the eastern edge of the state in Pike and Lincoln counties, dipping into St. Charles County to pick up Wentzville.
The five Republicans seeking to replace the term-limited incumbent, Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, brought a range of experience, ideas and wealth to the race.
Carter spent the most on his run for state Senate. The Wentzville municipal judge, attorney and marketing professional jump-started his campaign with a loan for half a million dollars, and spent more than $462,000 on billboards, print media, radio, social media and other forms of advertising.
Carter ran on a platform of treating Missouri taxpayers more like business consumers and preserving personal freedoms and constitutional rights.
Spencer, the other candidate from Wentzville, vowed to cut the recent gas tax increase, eliminate Missouri's income tax and phase out the state's personal property tax if elected. He said the state could cover the loss in revenue by killing non-essential programs and functions.
Spencer, who was term-limited out of the state House in 2020, didn't run on particular issues, but instead said he would let community causes direct his focus if elected to the state Senate. His campaign spent more than $146,400 and raised more than $139,000 by July 21.
Porter, who was first elected to the state House in 2018, said he joined the race to give voters a seasoned choice focused on economic development and rural job creation, public school advocacy and transportation infrastructure investments.
The former Montgomery City mayor of 15 years spent more than $148,800 on his Senate run and raised nearly $200,000 by July 21.
Fitzwater, who faced term limits in the House, campaigned on continuing the legislative efforts he's prioritized since first getting elected in 2014, which are to protect children, grow the state and its economy, and push back on federal overreach.
He vowed to be an effective leader in the state Senate by aligning the body's Republican supermajority behind solutions Missourians expect.
Fitzwater spent more than $157,600 on his campaign and raised more than $161,300.
Price, the final Republican, joined the race in response to a gas pipeline explosion in his hometown of Mexico, Missouri. He was drawn out of the 10th Senate District during the redistricting process but continued the campaign, advocating for energy pipeline and family court reforms. Price did not file campaign finance reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
See additional primary election coverage at https://www.newstribune.com/election/.
Travis Fitzwater