Warren County government elections later this year are shaping up to be some of the least eventful in recent memory, with only a single candidate signed up to run for all but one county-level elected office.

Candidate filing ended last week on March 29, and eight of the nine county offices on the ballot this year saw only the incumbent sign up as the sole candidate. The only county election with a competition this year is for the recorder of deeds’ office, where candidates Cynthia Short and Christy Bonstell are vying to replace Deborah Engemann, who is retiring.

Here are the incumbent candidates who will be on the ballot for re-election this year:
• Presiding County Commissioner Joe Gildehaus, the head of the county’s chief legislative and administrative body.
• Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King, who heads the county’s criminal prosecutions.
• Collector of Revenue Julie Schaumberg, who runs the county’s tax collection office.
• County Clerk Denise Stotler, whose role consists of running elections, retaining county commission records, and performing other administrative duties.
• Treasurer Jeff Hoelscher, the independent overseer of the county’s financial accounts.
• Division 2 Associate Circuit Judge Richard Scheibe.
• Division 3 Associate Circuit Judge Mike Wright.
• Circuit Court Clerk Tim Beard, the head of the office that manages the court’s records and scheduling.

Each of these races will appear on election ballots for the August 2 primary election and the November 8 general election this year. However, the only competitive race, the recorder of deeds office, will be decided by default in August because both of the candidates are registered as Republicans.

State office competitors

Races for the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate seats representing our area will have a lot more going on leading up to August. Both elections saw multiple contenders sign up for the ballot in the last few days of candidate filing.

This will be the first election that Warren County has a House seat nearly to itself, sharing a boundary with only the easternmost portion of Montgomery County. Three people are running for that House seat (District 42): Jeff Myers of Warrenton, M. Rene Yoesel of Warrenton, and Joseph Holiway of Wright City.

All of the House candidates are Republicans, meaning the contest between them will culminate with the August party primaries. The winner from the election will be essentially coasting to final election in November.

This will also be the first year that Warren County participates in a Senate in a new district. With the recent redistricting, the county has been moved into District 26, which consists of Franklin, Gasconade and Osage counties. The largest population center of the district is the city of Washington in Franklin County.

Five Republicans and one Democrat are running for that Senate seat. Four of the Republicans are from Franklin County, but one Warren County Republican also made it into the race with a registration on the last day of candidate filing.

The state Senate Republican candidates are: Nate Tate of St. Clair, Ben Brown of Washington, Bob Jones of Washington, Merry-Noella Skaggs of Pacific, and Jason Franklin of Warrenton.
The Republican winner in August will face off against Democrat John Kiehne of Pacific in November to decide who holds the Senate seat.