Republican Herman Morse of Dexter carried every precinct in Stoddard County with the exception of Puxico City in the recent Special Election to fill the vacant District 151 State Representative seat in the Missouri House. Morse won the election with 1,557 votes. Democrat Curtis Clark had 602 votes, and Libertarian Rick Vandeven had 51 votes. Dexter Rural had the most voters (345) of any precinct to turn out for the election with Morse drawing 275 of those votes.
Voters in all but four of the 19 precincts in the county voted in favor of the county use tax. The final vote was 1,118 in favor of the use tax and 831 against it. The Bloomfield Rural precinct voted 82-121 against the use tax. Also voting against the tax were the Dexter Ward 3 precinct (31-39), the Pyle Precinct (24-26) and the Vinson precinct (5-8). Approval of the use tax will mean the county will continue to be able to collect sales tax on vehicles, RVs, boats and other items purchased out of state.
Turnout was extremely low for the Special Election. Of the 19,955 registered voters in Stoddard County, only 2,009 turned out to vote. That is 10.07 percent. The state representative seat and use tax were the only two items on the Nov. 7 Election ballot. There would not have been an election in November had not former State Rep. Tila Hubrecht resigned last May. Gov. Eric Greitens called the Special Election to fill that seat.
Clark won the Puxico City precinct 45-38. He lives in the Puxico area. He lost the Puxico Rural precinct 73-82. Clark garnered his highest vote total in Scott County where he received 76 votes. Morse still won that precinct 123-76. Libertarian Vandeven also received 18 votes in Scott County, the highest precinct total he received.
Morse is a retired educator in Dexter and has been a member of the Dexter School Board for 14 years. Morse said after consulting officials in Jefferson City, Mo., he learned that he can continue to serve on the school board. He said he likely resign as vice president of the board because of the demands of beig a legislator. Morse will not take office as state representative until he is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2018, when the next legislative session convenes.
Precinct breakdown
Advance City -- Morse 44, Clark 21, Vandeven 1. Use tax: For 49 Against 19
Advance Rural -- Morse 31, Clark 19, Vandeven 6. Use tax: For 33 Against 22
Bell City -- Morse 37, Clark 20, Vandeven 0. Use tax: For 28 Against 28
Bernie -- Morse 89, Clark 26, Vandeven 2. Use Tax: For 74 Against 41
Bloomfield City -- Morse 83, Clark 40, Vandeven 1. Use Tax: For 77 Against 40
Bloomfield Rural -- Morse 158, Clark 41, Vandeven 2. Use Tax: For 82 Against 121
Dexter Ward 1 -- Morse 98, Clark 16, Vandeven 0. Use Tax: For 69 Against 45
Dexter Ward 2 -- Morse 182, Clark 42, Vandeven 2. Use Tax: For 31 Against 39
Dexter Ward 3 -- Morse 59, Clark 12, Vandeven 2. Use Tax: For 31 Against 39
Dexter Rural -- Morse 275, Clark 65, Vandeven 5. Use Tax: For 190 Against 147
Dudley -- Morse 21, Clark 6, Vandeven 1. Use Tax: For 18 Against 8
Essex -- Morse 43, Clark 20, Vandeven 1. Use Tax: For 43 Against 18
Leora -- Morse 44, Clark 20, Vandeven 1. Use Tax: For 37 Against 28
Puxico City -- Morse 38, Clark 45, Vandeven 0. Use Tax: For 48 Against 29
Puxico Rural -- Morse 82, Clark 73, Vandeven 2. Use Tax: For 80 Against 74
Pyle -- Morse 41, Clark 8, Vandeven 0. Use Tax: For 24 Against 26
Vinson -- Morse 13, Clark 0, Vandeven 0. Use Tax: For 5 Against 8
Grayridge -- Morse 22, Clark 3, Vandeven 1. Use Tax: For 15 Against 11
Absentee -- Morse 74, Clark 49, Vandeven 3. Use Tax: For 70 Against 48.
Scott County -- Morse 123, Clark 76, Vandeven 18