Jackson County Legislature will turn over this year. See who’s running for a seat
Jackson County residents will select a new slate of leaders later this year to helm the county government through another season. And with several longtime legislators bowing out or ineligible to rerun, at least half of the Jackson County Legislature is guaranteed to turn over in 2027, following a few years of fierce division that made it hard for the current body to take action on much.
The Jackson County Legislature consists of nine members, six of whom represent specific districts. The other three are at-large members representing all county residents. Legislators meet weekly to discuss and pass local ordinances, approve municipal contracts and set policies that have a countywide impact, particularly for the unincorporated parts of the county.
Members serve four-year terms. A ballot measure to limit them to two consecutive terms failed in 2018.
A primary election will take place on Aug. 4 to replace between five and nine current legislators, with a general election on Nov. 3. Those elected or re-elected this year will start their terms on January 1, 2027, and will serve through January 1, 2031.
Candidate filing for the 2026 elections closed this week. Twenty-five candidates filed for nine Legislature positions, including 17 Democrats and eight Republicans.
The field includes current legislators Manny Abarca IV, Venessa Huskey, Jalen Anderson and Donna Peyton, all running for re-election. It also includes current and former school board members, state-level candidates, City Council candidates and others involved in politics across Jackson County.
All of the races will be contested. In two cases, four candidates have filed for one position.
Here are the candidates for Jackson County Legislature this August:
First District
Manuel Abarca IV (D) - Incumbent
Branden Haralson (D)
Kelly Thompson (D)
Second District
J. Eric Dickinson (D)
Venessa Huskey (D) - Incumbent
Third District
Phyllis Hernandez (D)
Tony Miller (R)
Scott Qualls (R)
Dennis Rowland (D)
Fourth District
John T. Maloney (D)
Lon McDonald (R)
Byron Townsend (D)
Fifth District
Dale Carter (R)
Antoine D. Jennings (D)
Sixth District
Bill Haley (R)
Tony Lawson (D)
First District At-Large
Jalen Anderson (D) - Incumbent
Carle Fields (D)
Justice Horn (D)
Mackenzie Woods (R)
Second District At-Large
Gresia Cabrera (R)
Brandon Ellington (D)
Donna Peyton (D) - Incumbent
Third District At-Large
Leon Weatherby (R)
Susan B. Wilson (D)
Newly elected legislators will work with a new county executive, who will also be elected in August to serve a four-year term.
County executive candidates include former Legislative Chair DaRon McGee, Lee’s Summit Mayor Bill Baird, and Interim Executive Phil LeVota, who filed to run for the permanent seat despite repeated public pledges not to do so.
Some current Jackson County legislators are also running for other positions, both in local government and beyond. Manny Abarca, Jalen Anderson and Venessa Huskey are running for county committeeships alongside their legislature re-election campaigns.
Legislature Vice-Chair Sean Smith briefly filed to run for Congress, planning to challenge longtime Rep. Emanuel Cleaver for Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District. However, Smith dropped out of the Republican primary this week. He will instead run for a seat in the Missouri statehouse.
Under Jackson County law, candidates need to have been a county resident for three years before filing, and must have lived in their district for at least one year before filing unless they’re running for an at-large seat. The withdrawal deadline for the August primary election is May 19 at 5 p.m.
Other items up for a vote in August and November will include the option to elect rather than appoint a county auditor, along with a sales tax renewal question, a statewide ballot item to restrict abortion access and one on the initiative petition process.
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 6:30 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the results of a 2018 proposal to impose term limits for county legislators. County legislators are not currently restricted to two four-year terms.
