Atchison Claims District 153 House Seat

Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Republican Darrell Atchison of Williamsville was elected Tuesday as state representative for District 153, which includes Ripley, Carter and parts of Wayne and Butler counties.

Ripley County will have new representation in both the state house and senate starting in January.

One of those seats was decided in Tuesday’s primary election with Williamsville businessman Darrell Atchison coming out on top in a three-man field in the District 153 house of representatives race.

Atchison will take office in January to replace current Rep. Jeff Shawan, who chose to run for the senate in District 25 and finished second among four candidates.

In Ripley County, Atchison claimed 1,134 votes while Skip Johnson of Gatewood earned 694 and Larry Kimbrow of Poplar Bluff 656. Overall, Atchison finished with 3,615 votes (48 percent) to 2,602 for Kimbrow and 1,234 for Johnson.

The District 33 state senate race on the Republican ticket was a nailbiter with Karla Eslinger edging Robert Ross by just 142 votes. The primary matched three candidates who have served in the Missouri house.

Final totals from the office of the Missouri secretary of state showed Eslinger with 12,701 votes to 12,559 for Ross. Van Kelly gained 26 percent of the vote with 8,958.

Eslinger will be challenged in the November general election by Democrat Tammy Harty of Doniphan. Harty received 3,274 votes while unopposed in the primary.

In Ripley County, voters favored Ross with 1,398 votes to 724 for Eslinger and 334 for Kelly.

Amendment 2, which proposed Medicaid expansion, was defeated in Ripley County with 921 ‘yes’ votes to 1,899 ‘no.’ However, the amendment fared much better in other parts of the state and was approved with 672,967 voting 'yes' to 590,809 opposed.

The amendment reportedly will allow up to 230,000 Missourians to become eligible for Medicaid by lowering income requirements to include all individuals earning incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2016, that was $16,394 for individuals and $33,534 for a family of four.

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