State Rep. Mike Bernskoetter will become a state senator in January.
Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, won 43,532 votes in the unofficial totals compiled in five of the seven counties the district covers - Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Miller and Maries.
Results from Osage and Gasconade counties were not available at press time Tuesday night.
"We've been traveling around the district for the better part of two years," Bernskoetter said, "going to the picnics and festivals and the Republican meetings, and we got a pretty good feel of the people of the district, so we decided to file" last February.
"And we just kept doing it, we kept knocking on doors, putting out signs and talking to the people of the 6th District - and it looks to be like we're having a good night."
Democrat Nicole Thompson received 15,236 votes in the five counties.
She told the News Tribune, "I'm certainly disappointed by the result. We put in a hard-fought campaign. (But) I think we've really started something here - this is the first time in awhile that we've had a chance to network amongst Democrats and other progressive groups here in Mid-Missouri, and I know that there's a lot of people (who are) just getting started, and we're going to continue this fight for making more progress."
Libertarian Steven Wilson captured 1,279 votes in the five counties.
Christina Smith, of Jefferson City, filed as a write-in candidate, but got no votes, according to the secretary of state's online reporting of election results from all counties.
Bernskoetter will succeed now Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who held the 6th District seat from January 2011 until he resigned in June, when new Gov. Mike Parson appointed him to fill the vacancy left when Parson became governor following former Gov. Eric Greitens' resignation June 1.
Bernskoetter has served in the Missouri House since January 2011, and was prohibited by term limits from running for another two-year term.
As he begins serving in the Senate next year, Bernskoetter said, he expects two issues to be at the forefront of the Legislature's debates.
"I'm sure there will be some tort reform," he said, "(and) there's always somebody who's interested in doing some education reform."
The district has, for a long time, voted Republican.
However, Thompson said, that doesn't mean a Democrat never will win in the region.
"I don't think it's an impossible task. We just need more time," she said. "We need to continue getting the message out there, that the Democrats' platform is what's going to bring positive change to Mid-Missouri. It's certainly an uphill climb. None of us thought that it wasn't - there's just a lot more work that needs to be done. But, we all knew that."
Based on the unofficial returns reported by the secretary of state, here's the county-by-county breakdown of the race:
Cole County
Bernskoetter - 22,985
Thompson - 9,454
Wilson - 624
Smith - 0
Moniteau County
Bernskoetter - 4,490
Thompson - 1,216
Wilson - 113
Smith - 0
Osage County - not available at 10 p.m.
Bernskoetter -
Thompson -
Wilson -
Smith -
Miller County
Bernskoetter - 7,517
Thompson - 1,846
Wilson - 291
Smith - 0
Morgan County
Bernskoetter - 5,575
Thompson - 1,876
Wilson - 194
Smith - 1
Maries County
Bernskoetter - 2,965
Thompson - 844
Wilson - 291
Smith - 0
Gasconade County - not available at 10 p.m.
Bernskoetter -
Thompson -
Wilson -
Smith -