A Republican newcomer narrowly flipped Platte County’s ‘swing district’ red. Here’s how

Platte County voters narrowly elected Republican newcomer Mike Jones to represent part of the county in the Missouri General Assembly, a notable win for the party in a district that could have gone either way.

Jones, who owns a painting company in Parkville, will represent District 12, which includes most of southern Platte County and the Kansas City International Airport. He defeated incumbent Rep. Jamie Johnson, a Democrat, who became the first Black state lawmaker from the county when she flipped the previously Republican-held seat in 2022.

Jones won the district by just 200 votes. With 11 out of 11 precincts in, he collected 50.50% of the votes while Johnson got 49.50%.

“I want to restore civility and sanity to the state legislature,” Jones said in an email. “I’m very thankful they gave me the opportunity. District 12 is definitely a swing district, but it’s not a progressive woke district.”

Jones declined to speak to a reporter over the phone or in person to “minimize miscommunication about his beliefs and values,” but he answered a list of questions by email.

Historically, District 12 had been reliably a Republican stronghold, but that changed with Missouri’s latest round of redistricting. The district used to encompass parts of northern Platte and Clay counties, including Smithville, Kearney and parts of Platte City. But it moved south to the Parkville area ahead of the 2022 election and has since been sought-out by both parties with narrow margins. In 2022, Johnson won 52% of the votes against Republican Tom Hustler.

Unlike Hustler, who had a public and legal feud with Park Hill Schools, Jones this year was a new face to Platte County voters.

Jones’ campaign focused on support for law enforcement, reducing property taxes and more funding for public schools.

Scott Fricker, the presiding commissioner of Platte County, said schools are extremely important to Platte voters, especially those in the Park Hill district.

“The school district has a lot of voters,” said Fricker. “They kind of tend to vote as a block when they have a reason to, and I think in Jamie’s victory two years ago, they had a reason to vote against her opponent.”

Jones, however, is a product of Park Hill Schools and an advocate for public education funding, including a raise in teacher salaries.

“Teachers are the foundation of public education, and their pay should reflect their value to students, schools, and society,” Jones said.

Schools became a point of contention in the District 12 race’s final days. The Missouri and Kansas City NAACP chapters condemned a campaign text message that suggested Johnson was behind a redistricting plan in the works for Park Hill schools that could bus kids away from their neighborhoods. State lawmakers have no say in school district boundary lines or bussing.

The text, which the NAACP compared to decades-old rhetoric used to promote school segregation, claimed that Johnson pushed “a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda.”

Jones said the text did not come from his campaign.

Reaching voters face-to-face and on their screens

While on the campaign trail, Jones knocked on over 9,000 doors, speaking to voters about what issues mattered the most to them. Out in the community, he said he’s heard concerns about lack of support for children with disabilities, as well as the struggles of seniors and nursing homes in the district.

“With regard to our children with disabilities and our elderly in nursing homes, Missouri is doing a terrible job protecting our most vulnerable,” Jones said in an email.

Fricker pointed out that Jones was pretty much unknown but got out into the field and allowed his personality to shine through. Jones said he ran his campaign’s social media accounts himself, which give a glimpse into the newly elected representative’s life through video reels.

On his social media feed, Jones embraces his background as a blue collar worker, small business owner, father and husband. Videos include cameos from his grade-school-age daughter, shots of him on job sites with his painting company and old photos of him and his wife in the Air Force, as well as shots of him talking in his car about issues like restricting transgender athletes from playing women’s sports and personal property taxes.

“Personal property tax is easily in the top three of issues voters talk to me about when I’m standing on the front porch with them,” he said in a reel while holding up his tax bill. He broke down the different taxes a person pays on a vehicle in Platte County and Missouri. He then promised to propose and fight for vehicles 10 years or older to no longer be taxed through personal property taxes.

“Whether they are small business owners or not, everyone feels overtaxed, even before the additional burden of high inflation,” Jones said.

His endorsements included Americans for Prosperity and Eric Zahnd, the Platte County Prosecutor.

Zahnd said he was introduced to Jones early in his campaign for the state House and was thoroughly impressed with his commitment to backing law enforcement.

“He knocked on a lot of doors and met scores of people,” Zahnd said about Jones, who is an Air Force veteran. “I think folks were impressed by his record of military service and his focus on controlling crime.”

Zahnd said Platte County and Missouri as a whole are experiencing high crime rates including human trafficking. He has no doubt that Jones will support legislation with harsher prison sentences for violent crimes and funding for law enforcement.

‘Anybody’s game’

Dean Katerndahl, the mayor of Parkville, said the city that takes up a good portion of District 12 is purple, but is still mostly conservative.

“With the new population coming in it has kind of changed some of the dynamics,” said Mayor Katerndahl. “Platte County is going from, more in the past, a kind of sleepy, little more rural community, a little more conservative, to a somewhat more suburban community.”

From 2010 to 2020, the population in Platte County grew by nearly 20%, the highest increase out of all Missouri counties, according to U.S. Census data.

Yet Katerndal said Parkville as a city remains more Republican than Democratic. He also mentioned voters may have voted for local elections to align with the national beliefs and parties in this election.

But Fricker said the county’s votes for U.S. Senate didn’t align with this take. Lucas Kunce, a Democrat, defeated Josh Hawley by over 200 votes in Platte County.

When it comes to partisan politics and even more broadly, the presiding commissioner described the area as in flux.

“District 12 is anybody’s game, and I think it’s going to remain that way for quite a while,” Fricker said.

This story was originally published November 10, 2024 at 6:00 AM.