Barnes & Jones share thoughts on primary victories in Missouri State Senate District 34 race
MISSOURI (KQTV) -- Tuesday, August 4 saw the race for Missouri State Senate District 34 get clearer after the party primary victories by Shereka Barnes for the Democratic ticket and Mike Jones for the Republican ticket.
Shereka Barnes won the Democratic Primary for the Missouri Senate District 34 seat and will advance to the November General Election Ballots.
"Very appreciative of the voters that they had that much confidence in me," Barnes told KQ2 on Wednesday. "I worked hard; I feel like in Buchanan County, I was up there at least once a week. I either canvassed or attended an event that I was invited to by a various group. But you never know if I could have done more."
Barnes won with 11,453 votes against St. Joseph native Pam May. She looks to take over after current District 34 Senator Tony Luetkemeyer announced he would step down.
"I think it's important to have someone in Jefferson City who understands what it is to be a working single mother, who understands what it is to, you know, make the hard decisions and figure out balances and budgets and live those life choices and not just read it," Barnes said about a message to voters. "Read it on a piece of paper so that if something comes across the desk or comes across us in legislation, we understand how it will affect our constituents back home.
Mike Jones won the Republican Primary for the Missouri Senate District 34 seat and will advance to the November General Election Ballots.
Jones is proud of the way he's reached the general election and wants to continue doing what he believes worked to get him this far.
"I knew just by going, hitting so many doors, that there was no one else knocking on the doors. Right? It was never you never got questions like, well, are you running against so-and-so or hey, so-and-so was here and, and, they said this," Jones shared. "It was just me out there. So, you know, we were confident going in, you know, we had a good, a good positive campaign."
Jones is the current Representative for Missouri House District 12. Jones won his primary against Sean Pouche and Ryan Gerster with 11,772 votes.
"I wasn't born into politics. I don't come from money. I've been in maintenance my whole life, you know, and I had to build a business from the ground up," Jones said about his message to voters. "I'm an average. I'm an average person that understands the needs, the struggles that my family's experienced and still experiences some of them, and that I got into this to serve the people, to help the people, and to do some good."
Jones will be listed alongside Democrat Shereka Barnes on Nov. 3.
