John Voss secures second term in Missouri's District 147 with decisive win

Missouri District 147 Rep. John Voss will serve a second term in Jefferson City after soundly defeating his challengers during the general election Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Voss received 9,352 votes, 2,362 more than in 2022 when he received 6,990.

"I'm honored and humbled to be reelected," Voss said. "Thank you to the people of Cape Girardeau for your support and confidence. I will continue to be a strong voice for Cape Girardeau and the entire Southeast Missouri region."

Voss’ Democratic challenger Michael Davis received 5,101 votes, 1,696 more than fellow Democrat Andy Leighton received against Voss in 2022. Libertarian Greg Tlapek performed better in 2024 as well, increasing his vote total by 182 with 632.

While the results were similar, Davis performed slightly better percentage-wise than Leighton did in 2022, receiving 33.82% of the vote compared to 31.36%. Tlapek improved marginally, earning five-hundredths of a percent more of the vote than in 2022 — 4.19% compared to 4.14% — while Voss polled at 62% in 2024 after receiving 64.38% in his previous race.

More than 12,000 additional voters turned out in Cape Girardeau County this year compared to the 2022 general election, a common trend during presidential election years. In 2022, just 28,112 of 54,633 registered voters cast ballots, while 40,762 of 55,676 registered voters turned in a ballot this year. In 2020, 40,576 of 55,350 voters turned out.

In the District 147 race, 4,228 more ballots were cast than in 2022 with 15,085. However, voter turnout for this race was down by 1,064 voters.

Final unofficial results for Tuesday’s election were slow to come in from Cape Girardeau County because the ballot counting machine experienced a malfunction after 4,500 of the more than 15,000 absentee ballots were counted. County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said her office had to “get a new machine for the continuance of absentee (ballot counting)”.

“When we went to upload the results tonight after 7 p.m., we got an error,” Summers said in an email to the Southeast Missourian at approximately 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. “We have been trying to resolve the issue. This is the first time we have ever had that many ballots, combined with the length of a 17-inch ballot. Some other counties our size or larger are having an issue also.”