Bruce Sassmann, a former mayor and funeral director, won the Republican nomination for the Missouri House of Representatives District 62 seat in Tuesday's primary election.
He will face Democrat Nancy J. Ragan in November's general election.
Sassmann received 3,159 votes (40.6 percent) in defeating Tom Reed, 2,707 votes (34.8 percent), and Chris Beyer, 1,920 votes (24.6 percent), for his party's nomination.
The candidates are vying for the seat held by Tom Hurst, R-Meta, who is prevented from running again because of term limits.
District 62 is geographically among the largest districts in Central Missouri, touching on seven counties. It takes up the southeastern corner of Cole County, southern Osage and Gasconade counties, the northeastern corner of Miller County, all of Maries County, and the extreme northwestern corners of Phelps and Crawford counties.
Before the election, Sassmann said people wish to get back to normal following disruption caused by the pandemic.
"They worry about the uncertainty we've been thrown into," he said. "Legislators need to be setting good examples in their political, professional and personal lives."
All results are unofficial.