St. Joseph sees 10.5% voter turnout for mayoral primary, with 4,560 total ballots cast
Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A little more than 4,500 ballots were cast on Tuesday to decide who would advance to become the next mayor of St. Joseph this April.
Voter turnout numbers for Tuesday’s Municipal Primary Election show that 10.5% of registered voters cast a ballot for one of the four candidates. The election ended with incumbent Mayor John Josendale (40.4%) and challenger Larry Miller (25.7%) receiving the most votes to advance to the April 7 election.
Miller (1,170 votes) narrowly received the nod by just 50 votes over fellow candidate Jonathan McClain, who finished in third (1,120 votes).
All in all, of the 43,531 registered voters in St. Joseph, 4,560 cast a ballot on Tuesday.
By comparison, around 7,863 ballots were cast in the last Municipal Primary Election in February 2022 — 3,303 more than 2026 — for a voter turnout of 18.7%. The 2022 ballot also included several additional races however, including primaries for municipal judge, at-large and district City Council races, unlike Tuesday when only the issue appeared.
Going back even further, the 2018 Municipal Primary saw 15.4% turnout (6,676 ballots) while the 2014 Municipal Primary saw just 7% turnout (3,627).
No primaries were included on the ballot this year for City Council seats or Municipal Judge, as Laura Chavez is set to run unopposed following the death of Judge Ted Elo last April.
While a total of six new candidates are challenging for two district seats and four at-large council seats in April, no primaries were needed to narrow down the requisite number of City Council candidates unlike previous city elections.
Precinct-by-precinct breakdown
A precinct-by-precinct breakdown of Tuesday’s election offers additional insight into how candidates performed in different areas of the city and which precincts saw the greatest participation.
The Central Christian Church polling place on 1501 N. Leonard Road registered the most votes among the 15 precincts in St. Joseph with 826 total votes, followed by Ashland United Methodist Church with 418 votes and the Missouri National Guard Base with 337.
Larry Miller received the most votes in four of the 15 precincts, including polling places at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Knights of Columbus, Huffman United Methodist Church and Evolution United Methodist Church.
Mayor Josendale claimed the most votes in eight of the 15 precincts, with Central Christian Church providing the highest percentage with 424 votes, followed by Ashland United Methodist with 190
Despite narrowly missing out, Jonathan McClain received the most votes in three of the 15 polling places, including Downtown at the Pony Express and St. Joseph Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, as well as at Brookdale Church.
A total of 544 absentee ballots were also counted in this year’s election, 291 of which were cast for Josendale.