Springfield Democrats’ optimism about Tuesday’s election wasn’t entirely misplaced, as they were able to flip Republican-held House District 136 and two incumbents won impressive victories — while the GOP held on to win two other local House contests, plus re-elected Sen. Lincoln Hough.
With unofficial returns for state House and Senate districts from the Greene County Clerk’s office, it appears Springfield’s purple trend might be continuing. Democrats now hold three of the eight state House seats selected by Greene County voters — up from just one prior to the 2020 election. Both local Senate seats are held by Republicans.
Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and first-term Democratic Rep. Betsy Fogle won re-election. In the reshaped 136th, Democrat Stephanie Hein pulled off a 202-vote victory over incumbent Republican Craig Fishel.
“I’m always very cautious until I see the final T crossed and the I’s dotted before I say ‘yes’, that’s a victory,” Hein said. “But regardless, I feel incredibly proud of the race that we ran and the quality of the work that we did.”
Said Quade: “It’s showing that the tide is turning in Greene County and the work that we’ve been doing over the past several cycles has been working.”
However, Quade remained uncertain if Democrats in Missouri would be able to break up the supermajority status of Republicans in the state legislature.
“Breaking that status will definitely make an impact in terms of how we are able to negotiate what we’re able to get done if we are able to do so,” she said. “I’m not sure that we will be, we did lose one seat up in Clay County, you know, so numbers are still coming in.”
While Democrats and Republicans have campaigned on abortion and gun rights, inflation, immigration and foreign policy, among other things, Republicans have widely been favored to win big on a national level.
In Greene County, however, expectations were different. In five state House districts in the Springfield area, Democratic women sought seats.
Democratic hopeful Samantha Deaton was unable to flip District 134, where Republican incumbent Alex Riley won a second term convincingly. Meanwhile, Republican Melanie Stinnett edged out Democrat Amy Blansit in the competitive 133rd.
Additionally, Democratic candidate Raymond Lampert was soundly defeated by Hough in Senate District 30.
Also elected Tuesday without opposition are:
- Senate 20th District — Curtis Trent, Republican
- House 130th District — Bishop Davidson, Republican (incumbent)
- House 131st District — Bill Owen, Republican (incumbent)
- House 137th District — Darin Chappell, Republican
Following are the unofficial results in contested races within Greene County. According to the Greene County Clerk’s office, the final outstanding precinct for all Greene County races is military and overseas ballots that have until Monday to be received. Vote totals will not be certified until after the outstanding ballots are counted.
Missouri Senate 30th District
The 30th is the only senatorial district in Greene County that featured competition in the general election, primarily comprising Springfield city proper. Republican Sen. Lincoln Hough ran to cap off his time in Missouri’s upper chamber, where four more years would term him out of the state senate. Opposing him was Democrat and local attorney Raymond Lampert.
Hough outspent Lampert by more than $37,000, having raised over $101,000 during the current election cycle, compared to Lampert’s mark of $8,215, based on campaign finance reports filed on Oct. 31 and 30, respectively.
| With 56 of 57 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| ✔ | Lincoln Hough (Republican) (incumbent) | 30,294 | 57.40% |
| Raymond Lampert (Democrat) | 22,299 | 42.25% |
Missouri House 132nd District
House Minority Leader and six-year incumbent Crystal Quade ran for her final term in the state legislature’s lower chamber, in a drastically reshaped District 132. She was opposed by Republican Stephanos Freeman, a southwest Missouri native with an extensive background working in various industries, including public education.
“My message to all of my constituents is that I truly believe that my job is to represent the district and I pay attention to the numbers, I do surveys and I want to know what they want me to do, ” Quade said. “While we may not always agree on every single issue, it is my job to do my best for all of them.”
Quade outspent Freeman by over $45,000 and has raised nearly $92,000 during this election cycle, compared to her opponent’s total receipts of just shy of $7,500, according to reports filed on Oct. 31.
| With 15 of 16 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| Stephanos Freeman (Republican) | 3,045 | 43.56% | |
| ✔ | Crystal Quade (Democrat) (incumbent) | 3,931 | 56.24% |
Missouri House 133rd District
The only House district in Greene County without an incumbent running has been a big point of contention between the local political parties. Republican Melanie Stinnett is the founder of disability services company Theracare and vice president of therapy services for Arc of the Ozarks. Democratic opponent Amy Blansit is an instructor in the Kinesiology Department at Missouri State University and the founder and CEO of the Drew Lewis Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that focuses on supporting underserved families.
Stinnett outspent Blansit by nearly $37,000, having raised over $81,000 compared to her opponent’s $46,120, based on reports filed on Oct. 31 Additionally, the HRCC (Missouri House Republican Campaign Committee) and the Missouri Federation for Children PAC spent a combined $26,500, helping boost Stinnett’s campaign.
| With 14 of 15 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| ✔ | Melanie Stinnett (Republican) | 4,433 | 52.27% |
| Amy Blansit (Democrat) | 4,025 | 47.46% |
Missouri House 134th District
House District 134, arguably the least competitive district for Democrats after redistricting, featured incumbent Republican and local attorney Alex Riley against Battlefield alderwoman and Democratic opponent Samantha Deaton.
Riley outspent Deaton by over $34,000, having raised over $50,000 in the current election cycle, compared to his opponent’s $12,674, according to reports filed on Oct. 29 and 21, respectively.
| With 10 of 11 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| ✔ | Alex Riley (Republican) (incumbent) | 8,844 | 63.03% |
| Samantha Deaton (Democrat) | 5,170 | 36.84% |
Missouri House 135th District
In 2020, House District 135 was a rare exception of a toppled incumbent. This year, Republican challenger AJ Exner, with a work history in DNA testing laboratories, sought to give Democratic incumbent Rep. Betsy Fogle a taste of her own medicine as she sought to win her second term in the Missouri legislature’s drastically outnumbered Democratic party.
Fogle has outspent Exner by over $125,000. Meanwhile, she raised over $181,000, compared to $30,751 by her opponent, according to reports filed on Oct. 31. Fogle has benefited from a combined $39,500 from the Missouri Democratic State committee, House Democratic Campaign Committee and Protect Missouri Freedom. Exner, on the other hand, has been boosted by $50,000 in spending by the HRCC.
| With 16 of 17 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| AJ Exner (Republican) | 4,700 | 43.69% | |
| ✔ | Betsy Fogle (Democrat) (incumbent) | 6,040 | 56.14% |
Missouri House 136th District
Yet another race where the challenger had big aspirations of toppling an incumbent, House District 136 shaped up to be a more competitive battleground due to redistricting. Republican incumbent and former Springfield City Council member Craig Fishel, in the hunt for his third term, faced Democratic opponent Stephanie Hein, head of MSU’s Department of Hospitality Leadership.
Hein has outspent her opponent by over $63,000. She has raised over $125,000, whereas Fishel raised a total of $87,652 during this election cycle, according to reports filed on Oct. 31.
| With 17 of 18 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| Craig Fishel (Republican) (incumbent) | 6,662 | 49.16% | |
| ✔ | Stephanie Hein (Democrat) | 6,864 | 50.65% |
