Platte County candidates seek ‘more difficult’ route to office after ballot mix-up
After fearing they would be removed from the ballot last week over a mistake prompted by incorrect instructions on a county-issued slip of paper — and later withdrawing from the election on their own — several Platte County candidates are now seeking a new, “more difficult” path to office.
The four Republican candidates, Chris Kendall, Holly Cayer, Dale Brouk and Kevin Robinson, will now run for their respective countywide offices independently, meaning they will have to earn their spot on the ballot through signature petitions and with no party backing.
“We just want to have a fair chance. And (last week) made it sound like we weren’t going to get that fair chance. So that’s why I’m doing this,” Cayer told The Star in a phone call Tuesday afternoon.
Each of the four candidates were nearly disqualified from the upcoming election earlier this week after incorrectly filing the personal financial disclosure statements needed to run for office, a mistake some say was caused by inaccurate information provided to candidates by the Platte County Board of Elections.
In Platte County, countywide candidates must file financial statements with both the Missouri Ethics Commission and the county clerk in compliance with a county ordinance first passed nearly 30 years ago. In many other Missouri counties, candidates only need to file with the state.
In past election cycles, candidates are given a slip of paper outlining the dual requirement. But this year, candidates received a yellow notice instructing them to only file their disclosures online with the state, and not with any other entity, leading seven candidates, including the four now running independently, to incorrectly file their financial documents.
According to the ordinance, if candidates do not file to both entities by the deadline, which was April 21, the county commission should inform the Platte County Board of Elections to disqualify the candidates and remove their names from the ballot.
On Monday, the Platte County Commission voted against disqualifying the candidates on a 2-1 vote. However, Kendall, Cayer, Brouk and Robinson had already withdrawn their names from the election prior to the vote.
But the four candidates’ campaigns won’t end there. They will now begin the process of gathering hundreds of signatures from Platte County voters in an attempt to put their names on the general election ballot Nov. 3 as independent candidates.
“This whole process has really been distasteful,” Kendall, the current county treasurer, said. “Rather than trying to refile as either Republican or Democrat, quite frankly, I just want to run and retain the office that I’m in. It’s kind of silly that these offices are even partisan. I just want to work for the county.”
Candidates have until July 27 to gather enough signatures to equal 2% of the votes cast the last time the office was elected, according to Chris Hershey, director of the county board of elections.
Cayer, who is running for collector, and Robinson, an incumbent running for auditor, will both have to earn around 600 signatures, while Brouk, a candidate for presiding commissioner, will need to gather around 800. Kendall will need close to 1,000 signatures to get back on the ballot for treasurer.
As independent candidates, they would be able to skip the Aug. 4 primary election and move straight to the general election in November.
“It’s going to be a long summer with a lot of work ahead,” Kendall said.
The last time an independent candidate ran for office in Platte County was in 2016, when a Republican candidate was disqualified for not filing his personal financial disclosure statements with the MEC. He earned the required signatures to run as an independent and received about 38% of the vote, according to Hershey.
Following the candidates’ withdrawals, races for county auditor and treasurer reopened for candidate filing, per Missouri election law, because both Robinson and Kendall are incumbents.
Elliot Lahn is currently the only candidate in the race for treasurer, and Laura Waldon is the only candidate for auditor. Both Lahn and Waldon are Republicans.
Candidate filing for these offices will remain open until May 11.
