This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 7, 2012 - U.S. Rep. Todd Akin was edging out St. Louis businessman John Brunner and former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, from Rolla, Mo. The evening had started out close, with each hovering within 2 percentage points of each other, with the rest split among a handful of little-known rivals who had done little campaigning.
Akin, R-Wildwood, was helped by his considerable lead in St. Louis County, the largest bloc of the state's votes, even though Brunner also is from St. Louis County.
Brunner's supporters were gathered in a small ballroom in Clayton, while Akin's allies monitored returns at the Columns in St. Charles. Steelman's supporters gathered in Rolla.
Meanwhile, the biggest congressional battle for the Democrats saw U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay holding close to a 2-to-1 lead in absentee ballots over U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan. Both St. Louis Democrats had been tossed into the same 1st District by redistricting.
In the race for governor, Kirkwood businessman Dave Spence won over Kansas City resident Bill Randles and St. Louis anti-abortion activist Bill Randles.
Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, held a slight lead over Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder by a 113,363 to 112,174 margin. Former state Auditor Susan Montee held a lead over seven other competitors.
While state Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City, seems to poised to win the Democratic primary for secretary of state, the three Republican contenders remained in a dead heat. House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller had 88,478 votes, State Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, had 78,287 votes, and state Sen. Scott Rupp had 81,892 votes.
In the 2nd congressional district, early returns saw Republican Ann Wagner with a huge lead over her most competitive rival, Dr. Randy Jotte. On the Democratic side, Harold Whitfield and Glenn Koenen were virtually tied.
The only statewide ballot measure, Amendment 2 -- also known as the "prayer amendment" -- was garnering over 80 percent of the vote. The AP reported that the amendment would pass.
In the closely watched St. Louis city treasurer's race, Tishaura Jones moved back into the lead with 70.3 percent of the precincts reporting. She had 32.50 percent of the 27,810 votes cast, followed by Fred Wessels with 29.30 percent, Jeffrey Boyd with 24.29 percent and Brian Wahby with 13.91 percent.
And in the Democratic race In the 87th House district in east central St. Louis County, pitting two incumbents against each other, Stacey Newman defeated Susan Carlson by one vote, 1,823 to 1,822, with all of the precincts reporting.
This story was written by Jo Mannies, Dale Singer and Jason Rosenbaum.