Editor’s note: The St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners declined to certify the results of the Democratic Primary in the state’s 87th District after it was revealed that 102 voters received incorrect ballots at their polling place. A new election may be held, said county Democratic elections director Rita Days. The St. Louis Beacon has a full report. 

Old political hands are accustomed to nail biters come election time but this time around two members of the small Jewish contingent in the Missouri House have just been through the closest race of their careers.

“Especially when this happens you can always sit and think about what I could have done,” said Rep. Susan Carlson. “There are always 10 more things you could have done in a campaign and there is no way to do them all.”

Unofficial results from last Tuesday’s primary left Carlson just one vote shy of fellow Rep. Stacey Newman in the Democratic contest out of more than 3,600 ballots cast. Results have not yet been certified.

“It’s a rare occurrence being separated by one vote,” said Newman. “That part was definitely surprising.”

Newman presently represents the 73rd District covering the Clayton/Richmond Heights area with Carlson’s neighboring 64th District to the east centered on Forest Park. However, the most recent redistricting left the pair to fight it out in the newly drawn 87th District.

Newman may have had something of a home field advantage in the contest with more than half of the district being her old territory. Carlson estimated only about a fifth of the 87th was her former district with the remainder coming from other areas.

No Republican candidate filed in the race making the winner of the primary the likely victor in November.

Carlson said she expected the primary to be close.

“There were a lot of new people to explain to them who we are,” she said. “Redistricting confuses people who say ‘Wait a minute,’ I thought I was represented by so and so.’”

Newman said she wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Like anybody going into election night, you have no idea,” she said. “There were quite a few upsets around the city and county.

The next step will see both candidates waiting for certification of the results. Carlson said her campaign will request a recount if the figures remain close.

“My understanding is that this number could change along the way so we’ll see how this bounces around,” she said.

Newman said she hoped the process, which she said she is familiar with as a member of the House Elections Committee, would be brought to a quick resolution.

“Voters deserve to know who their state representative is and that this process be done swiftly and fairly,” she said.

Outcomes from similar situations in the past have not always been quick or amicable. When a similar Kansas City area statehouse race came down to a single vote two years ago in a Democratic primary, it led to a months’ long court fight and much publicized acrimony.

One thing is for sure. No matter who wins, the Jewish caucus will shrink. Rep. Jake Zimmerman left the body when he won his race for St. Louis County assessor last year.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jason Kander, a Jewish representative from the Kansas City metropolitan area, won his primary this week for the position of Secretary of State and is set to face off in November against Shane Schoeller, a Republican who narrowly won his three-way primary. Also on the ballot will be Libertarian Cisse W. Spragins and Constitutional Party nominee Justin Harter.

Kander didn’t speculate on the meaning of his nomination for the Jewish community but said he would work hard to fight for strongly ethical government in the state.

“I can’t speak for entire community but I do think that folks all across the state of all faiths and all backgrounds care a lot about having people in office who are going to take an approach that isn’t ideological but instead is fair and just focused on doing the job,” he said.

Both Carlson and Newman said they didn’t know for sure but believed that Kander’s departure would leave the winner of their race as one of only two Jewish representatives in the General Assembly. The other, Rep. Jill Schupp of the Creve Coeur area faced no opposition in her 88th District primary and no one will face her on the November ballot either.

“I’d like to see more of a diverse group among those of us who have religious affiliations within the legislature,” said Newman. “I believe that’s fairer, more effective representation of the state.”

Carlson said that she and Newman agreed on many issues.

“Neither Stacey nor I was happy that the maps ended up being what they were so that we got dropped into the same district,” Carlson said. “On most of the major issues that a lot of our folks care about we vote the same way. Losing one of us didn’t seem to be a good thing for people in this area.”

Newman found herself looking ahead.

“It’s sad that the caucus will be smaller but there’s always the future,” she said.