Jefferson City had five open city council seats on Tuesday’s Municipal Election ballot. Here are the results:
Ward 1
Randy Hoselton beat incumbent Jack Deeken by 110 votes for a First Ward council seat.
Deeken, who has held office since 2022, said he initially ran to fix Jefferson City’s infrastructure and zoning.
“I didn’t have an aspiration to be a politician,” Deeken said. “I just wanted to address the streets and stop Monroe Street that would be widened.”
Deeken said while he lost his re-election bid, he’s happy to see a conservative like Hoselton take his spot.
“He has a conservative point of view where you spend less than what you make,” he said. “Good luck, guy.”
Hoselton said he only spent $691 on his campaign, and his biggest priorities are to keep the government out of his voters’ ways and pockets.
Ward 2
Mike Lester is an incumbent in Second Ward and ran unopposed. He received 324 votes.
He said the city is facing many challenges that need to be addressed, like infrastructure and housing.
“I’m all for working with anyone on the council to make this a better place to live, work and play,” Lester said.
Ward 3
Treaka Young beat Amy Brix by 70 votes.
Young attributes a part of her success to her door-to-door style of campaigning. She said she specifically targeted communities that felt ignored by previous candidates and council members.
“There was one community that said no one comes over here and engages us,” Young said. “I told my team, I wanna go to that community first.”
Brix watched results at a separate watch party with her family and said she was going to return to her busy life.
Ward 4
Chris Leuckel beat Randall Wright by 381 votes.
Ward 5
Mackenzie Job beat Virginia Shetler by 204 votes for a Fifth Ward council seat.
“Tomorrow morning, I’m going on vacation,” Job said. “After that, as we take office on April 15, I’m looking forward to some enthusiasm on our city council.”
Job believes her success will be measured by her presence amongst her constituents and said she wants to build a tangible community.
Shetler wished Job well and said she hopes Job has a wonderful time on the council.
“I’m proud of you and thanks for being such a great lady,” Shetler said after being asked what she wanted to share with Job.
