Frank White coasts to victory along with other incumbents in Jackson County races

UPDATED WITH FINAL RESULTS:

Any other candidate might have faced a tough time winning his party’s primary given the political turmoil that Frank White has faced over the past couple of years: tensions between him and the Jackson County legislature, the ongoing crisis at the county jail, White’s personal financial difficulties.

But the still beloved former Kansas City Royals star turned Jackson County executive coasted to an easy win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary over two lesser-known opponents.

With all precincts reporting, White won with 68 percent of the vote, while chief rival Matthew Merryman garnered 21 percent and third place finisher Jerry Raines picked up just over 10 percent.

White goes on to face Green Party nominee Nathan Kline in November. Kline won his primary by beating Richard Tolbert 199 votes to 118. No Republican is running. So barring a miracle, White will go on to win his first full four-year term for the job he’s held since being appointed to replace Mike Sanders in early 2016.

Missouri-side voters also chose nominees in six contests for the Jackson County Legislature, as well as nominees for the Clay County presiding commissioner and the Platte County prosecutor.

Jackson County Legislature

Newcomer Jalen Anderson handily won the two-man Democratic battle for the 1st District-At-Large seat held for the past two years by Garry Baker, who fellow legislators appointed to the job when White stepped away from it. Baker chose not to run for the seat.

Anderson beat Sherwood Smith by a ratio of 2 to 1. Anderson faces no general-election challengers. He is set to be sworn in at the legislature’s first meeting in January.

The same is true for Democratic incumbent Crystal Williams for the 2nd District At-Large seat. Williams weathered a well-funded challenge from former state and county legislator John Burnett by getting 64 percent of the vote..

The big surprise of the night was the tight race for 3rd District At-Large. Incumbent Tony Miller got 50.4 percent of the total by garnering just 586 votes than Roberta Gough out of 72,000 cast.

In Jackson County’s 2nd District race, former county legislator Ron Finley bested his two competitors — Sandra Jiles and Arimeta DuPree — with 43 percent of the vote and will replace Alfred Jordan, who is stepping down after one term. Finley faces no opponents in the general election.

Charlie Franklin won the 3rd District Democratic primary and will face off against Republican Brice Stewart in the fall. Franklin was the chosen successor of retiring 3rd District legislator Denny Waits, the longest-serving member of the legislature. Franklin had 37 percent of the vote, Paul Wrabec 33 percent and Lois McDonald 29 percent.

In the 4th District, Democrat Dan Tarwater retained his seat by beating his primary opponent, John T. Maloney, by a ratio of nearly 2 to 1. He faces no opposition in November.

Votes were cast but not counted in the primary race for sheriff, which was negated by a court ruling. Democratic and Republican Party officials will choose the candidates who will face off in November.

Clay County

In Clay County, incumbent Presiding County Commissioner Jerry Nolte won the Republican primary with 50.5 percent of the vote despite opposition from three challengers: Pamela Mason, Beth Keller and Dan Troutz.

In November, he’ll face Democrat Wendi Bridges, who beat Patrick K. Shuman on Tuesday with 76.5 percent of the vote.

Platte County

Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd faced his first Republican primary challenge in years from Nick Marshall. But it was a swift win for Zahnd, who received 73 percent of the vote. He’ll run unopposed in November; no Democrats ran in the race.

This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 10:52 PM.