Mike Bernskoetter and Blaine Luetkemeyer both claimed victory at the Millbottom Restaurant in Jefferson City Tuesday night surrounded by friends, family and fellow supporters.
Both candidates won by large margins over their Democratic candidates. Bernskoetter, previously a state representative for the last eight years, won the sixth senate district seat, while Luetkemeyer won his sixth term in the third U.S. congressional district.
Luetkemeyer has experience in the U.S. House, but it was reported Democrats won control for the first time since the 2010 election. He said just like previous terms, his work will continue to be about collaborations.
“Well any bill you want to try and get across the finish line needs to have bipartisan support, so it’s just a matter now of scaling it back a little bit more than we would have liked to, but we still can find ways to get some things done,” Luetkemeyer said.
Bernskoetter said he decided to run for state senate after Mike Kehoe reached a term limit. He said many priorities he held as a representative will roll over into his first state senate term.
“I have always had the state workers as a priority, trying to get better wages for our state workers. We also will have some tort reform issues and some education reform,” Bernskoetter said. “We are always trying to do the best we can for the young people and their education system.”
Many Republicans won races in the state, including Josh Hawley in the U.S. Senate race against Claire McCaskill, and Luetkemeyer said it may be due to the higher voter turnout compared to previous elections.
“If you look at trends from around the country, Republicans are doing very well. If that trend is the continues here, I think we are going to have a very good night, not only for myself and other local candidates, but I think Josh Hawley will have a good night as well.”
