FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo. – Voters across Franklin County are preparing to go to the polls for the November general election. As no-excuse absentee voting begins Oct. 22 in Missouri, voters may still be unfamiliar with county-specific items on their ballot.

This is a guide for registered voters within Franklin County. You can see your sample ballot here.

Ballots consist of various amendments, judges, presidential choices, and ballot issues. Election officials encourage vote absentee as it will take extra time to fill out the ballot, which could create longer lines of waiting on Nov. 5.

County Seats

Voters will have the opportunity to vote for candidates in four or five local Franklin County seats.

Each voter will vote on candidates for the Franklin County Sheriff, Assessor, Treasurer and Public Administrator role. Candidates in all four of these races are running unopposed. The candidates include:

Steven Pelton for sheriff

Dawn Copeland Mentz for assessor

Debbie Willming Aholt for treasurer

Mary Jo Straatmann for public administrator.

Depending on the voter’s jurisdiction, some may also be voting for the Franklin County Commissioner – District 1 seat. Paul Overschmidt is running unopposed in this race. This seat represents half of Franklin County.

Missouri U.S. Representative

Every voter in Franklin County will voter for a candidate for a Missouri United States Representative seat for District 2, which represents Franklin County and other parts of the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The candidates include Ann Wagner (Republican), Ray Hartmann (Democrat), Brandon Daugherty (Libertarian) and Shelby Davis (Green Party)

Missouri State Reps. for Franklin County

Three district seats that represent parts of Franklin County within the Missouri House of Representatives have candidates up for election. A voter could be making a selection based on their jurisdiction.

State Rep. District Seat 109 candidates up for vote include Eleanor Maynard (Democrat) and John Simmons (Republican).

State Rep. District Seat 118 candidate Mike McGirl (Republican) is up for vote and will run unopposed.

State Rep. District Seat 119 candidates up for vote include Amy Thompson (Democrat) and Brad Banderman (Republican).

Judges

All Franklin County voters will have the opportunity to vote for a circuit judge within one division of Circuit 20, along with a Franklin County Municipal judge. Candidates Craig E. Hellmann and Ben Hotz are running in those respective races unopposed.

Additionally, voters will have the opportunity to vote on the possibility of retention for two judges representing the Missouri Supreme Court and five judges representing the Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals.

Local ballot measures

There are no county-wide propositions on the ballot for the November 2024 election, according to Tim Baker, the election authority chief for Franklin County. Voters in the cities of Sullivan and St. Clair will see one local ballot measure pertaining to fire emergency management services.

Other topics on the ballot

Beyond the county propositions and judges on the ballot, voters will also see statewide amendments, propositions, and races for different positions.

To learn more on each issue, click on the links below.

Race for U.S. Senate seat

Josh Hawley

Lucas Kunce

Race for Governor

Mike Kehoe

Crystal Quade

Bill Slantz

Paul Lehmann

Race for Lieutenant Governor

Dave Wasinger

Richard Brown

Ken Iverson

Danielle Elliott

Race for Secretary of State

Denny Hoskins

Barbara Phifer

Carl Herman Freese

Jerome Bauer

Race for State Treasurer

Vivek Malek

Mark Osmack

John A. Hartwig Jr.

Reagan Haase

Race for Attorney General

Andrew Bailey

Elad Johnathan Gross

Ryan L. Munro