Congressional races hold little suspense

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- There was no suspense for six of the seven Missouri congressional incumbents, who faced no opposition in their primaries.

Republican JoAnn Emer-son easily turned back a primary challenge Tuesday from Richard Allen Kline, a 64-year-old retired Navy and Coast Guard veteran from Gipsy.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Emerson had 89 percent of the votes, to Kline's 11 percent, according to unofficial results.

Henderson

Emerson garnered 1,370 votes in Dunklin County, Kline 89.

Democrats Ike Skelton and William Lacy Clay, and Republicans Todd Akin, Roy Blunt, Kenny Hulshof and Sam Graves were unopposed in their primaries.

Emerson, 53, was elected in 1996 to serve out the term of her late husband, Bill Emerson, in southeast Missouri's 8th District and has been handily re-elected since then.

In the Democratic primary, Dean Henderson, 39, from Peace Valley, defeated Jerry Cass, 49, of Hartville. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Henderson had 57 of the vote to Cass' 43 percent.

Voters in Dunklin County gave Henderson 1,406 votes, Cass 1,091.

In the St. Louis area's 3rd District, 12 candidates were seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by Rep. Dick Gephardt. And in the 5th District, encompassing Kansas City and some suburbs, seven people are vying for the nomination to the seat held by retiring Rep. Karen McCarthy.

Skelton, 72, a 14-term congressman in the 4th District of central and western Missouri, is the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Jim Noland, 77, a former state representative and senator, won the Republican primary over Jeff Parnell, 43, of Rogersville and Steve Morrow, 54, of Bolivar. With 100 percent of the vote in, Noland had 52 percent of the vote, Morrow 25 percent and Parnell 23 percent.

Blunt, 54, the No. 3 House Republican from southwest Missouri's 7th District, will face the winner Jim Newberry, 57, of Springfield. With 97 percent of the precincts in, Newberry led with 47 percent of the vote; Jack Truman, 38, of Lamar, had 26 percent; Doug Burlison, 40, of Springfield, had 19 percent; Ron Lapham, 61, of Bolivar, had 7 percent.

Akin, 57, is seeking a third term in the 2nd District. Democrat George Weber, 80, of Eureka, defeated John Hogan in that party's primary. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Weber had 55 percent of the vote and Hogan garnered 45 percent.

Graves, 40, is seeking his third term in northwest Missouri's 6th District. Former Democratic state representative and Clay County Judge Charles Broomfield, 67, of Gladstone, and Libertarian Erik Buck, 67, of Gladstone, will challenge Graves in November.

Broomfield beat Jeff Bailey, 47, of Gladstone, in the Democratic primary. Bailey was on the ballot despite being sentenced in July to four years in prison for failure to pay child support. Despite the jail sentence, Bailey garnered 38 percent of the vote to Broomfield's 62 percent, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.

Hulshof, 46, has represented the 9th District in northeast Missouri since 1996. He'll face Democrat Linda Jacobsen, 46, of St. Charles, and Libertarian Tamara Millay, 37, of Greendale, in November.

Clay, 47, who has represented the 1st District in St. Louis for two terms, will face Republican Leslie Farr II, 26, of St. Louis, and Libertarian Terry Chadwick, 43, of St. Louis, in November.