The voters of St. Joseph have spoken. When Mayor Bill Falkner announced he would not be running for reelection, it opened it up to five candidates to take his place.

Bill McMurray, the former Buchanan County Public Administrator and Beau Walker, a pastor and community volunteer will be advancing to the general election in April. 

McMurray was the top vote getter with 45.47 percent of the vote while Walker finished in second with 29.76 percent. 

St. Joseph Mayor Results: 
Bill McMurray     3,014    45.47%
Beau Walker       1,973    29.76% 
Reba Herbert      1,150    17.35%
Travis Smith          322      4.86%
Chet Lake Jr.         170      2.56%

For the St. Joseph City Council at-large seats, there are three seats available with nine candidates running with the top six advancing to the general election.

Downtown businessman Brian Myers received the most votes with 20.58 percent of the vote. Incumbent Donna Jean Boyer finished in second with 14.12 percent with fellow incumbent Spanky O'Dell just behind with 12.51 percent for a solid third place.

The final at-large incumbent, Ken Beck finished in fourth with 10.52 percent. Brenda Blessing and Mary J. Nelson finished in fifth and sixth place respectively.

At-Large Results:
Brian Myers                   3,641    20.58%
Donna Jean Boyer (I)     2,498    14.12%
Spanky O'Dell (I)           2,214    12.51%
Ken Beck (I)                   1,861    10.52%
Brenda Blessing            1,823     10.30%
Mary J. Nelson              1,355      7.66%

Jackson Connors           1,274     7.20%
Dennis Adams               1,271     7.18%
Rusty Summers             1,212     6.85%

In District 1, perhaps a surprise tonight, where two term incumbent Pat Jones is out with challenger Madison Davis collecting 51.53 percent of the vote while Jones collected 34.36 percent. Since Davis collected 51.35 percent of the total votes in the district, he automatically wins and there will not be a runoff in April. 

District 1 Results:
Madison Davis       801    51.35%
Pat Jones               536    34.36%
John Holland         223    14.29%

For District 5, three term incumbent Barbara LaBass will be advancing to the April General Election after collecting 41.34 percent of the votes. Retired St. Joseph fireman Russel Moore finished in second with 29.71 percent by just getting passed third place Michael Grimm by only 10 votes. In the April election for District 5, it will be LaBass against Moore.

District 5 Results:
Barbara LaBass      544    41.34%
Russell Moore        391    29.71%
Michael Grimm     381    28.95%