State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R.-District 19, will return to Jefferson City for a second term after defeating Democrat challenger Mary Still in Tuesday’s election.
Still, who has served in Missouri’s House of Representatives, attempted to unseat him but only won 42 percent of the vote, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
The polls closed in Missouri at 7 p.m., and Schaefer jumped out to an early lead with more than 60 percent of the votes. As more precincts reported, Still closed the gap to roughly 6 percentage points, but Schaefer held his lead throughout the night. He ended with a 15 percent lead over Still and more than 47,000 votes. The District as a whole saw more than 81,000 voters.
Schaefer announced his victory at an election watch party held at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia around 10:30 p.m. At that moment, 62 percent of the precincts had reported their results and he had a 56 percent lead over Still.
District 19 encompasses Boone and Cooper counties. Schaefer carried the larger population of Boone County by a margin of 9,581 votes. He also carried Cooper County by a margin of more than 3,000 votes.
On his website, [SchaeferforSenate.com](http://schaeferforsenate.com), Schaefer touts his record of balancing the budget and working across the aisle.
In 2008, Schaefer defeated Democrat Chuck Graham by a margin of 2 percentage points to win his seat.