Voters shake up Independence politics, reject second City Council incumbent in 2020
Curt Dougherty, a member of the Independence City Council since 2012, will not serve another term after voters elected challenger Brice Stewart to replace him in District 2 on Tuesday night.
Stewart, many times a candidate for political office and now a winner, earned 64% of the vote, according to unofficial results posted by the Jackson County Election Board.
Dougherty is the second incumbent voters in Independence have shown the door in 2020. In February, District 4 council member Tom Van Camp finished last in a three-way primary.
Of the three incumbents up for election this year, only District 1 council member John Perkins will return for another term after running unopposed. There were 107 write-in votes in Perkins’ race, which accounted for 14% of the vote in District 1, far more than the other Independence council district contests.
Dougherty and Van Camp have at times drawn controversy in Independence.
Dougherty was called on to resign last year after a remark about “discount smoke shops owned by mostly Middle Easterns who will sell anything out the back door” during a council discussion about limiting medical marijuana facilities in the city.
Van Camp was the subject of a KSHB-41 report detailing thousands of dollars of taxpayer-funded travel for the council member, some of which appeared to coincide with his personal vacation time, according to the report.
Both were among a majority of council members who supported two controversial projects — the demolition of an Independence Power & Light plant in Missouri City and a solar farm project at the former Rockwood Golf Club. The Star has reported for several months that the FBI has been asking questions about both projects. A federal grand jury sent a subpoena earlier this year for records that appear to be related to both projects.
Van Camp will be replaced in District 4 by Dan Hobart, an attorney who ran on a back-to-basics platform that emphasized cutting excess spending and focusing on basic services. Hobart won 51.3% of the vote over Chris Heitzman.
In Tuesday night’s District 3 race, real estate agent Mike Steinmeyer won with 52% of the vote over Dan O’Neill, also a real estate agent.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:28 PM.
