Perry County primary winners point to goals

Keith Hoehn, Jay Wengert

Southeast Missourian

Incumbent Perry County associate commissioners Keith Hoehn and Jay Wengert won their contested Republican primary races on Tuesday to keep their seats on the commission as both candidates will run uncontested in November's general election.

Hoehn, a Republican candidate in District 2, came out on top in a four-way race that also included Rocky Schumer, Damon Lee Dillard and Douglas Martin. Hoehn tallied 897 votes (39.69%), garnering more support than Schumer (803 votes, 35.53%), Dillard (380 votes, 16.81%) and Martin (180 votes, 7.96%).

Hoehn acknowledged with four on the ballot the primary would be a challenge.

“Whenever you’ve got four people, it’s all split up,” Hoehn said. “Usually, the incumbent has a step forward. We each had our strong points in certain areas, and I ended up with the most votes.”

The term of office begins Jan. 1.

“The broadband and internet … we’ve got to keep pushing that,” Hoehn said. “The companies that want to come, want to come to the center of town in Perryville.”

Reliable cell service and internet can be difficult, especially in places such as Wittenberg and Port Perry

Road maintenance is also a long-term goal.

“We’ve got to get back to getting roads paved instead of just maintaining what we have,” he said, adding that the price of asphalt has more than doubled

“It’s difficult to get new roads paved when it costs $230,000 plus per mile,” Hoehn said.

This is for the installation of a six-inch pavement base. Typically, Perry County receives about $1.1 million annually in revenue for its road and bridge tax fund.

In total, there are about 455 miles or county roads and approximately 250 miles in District 2.

At this time, nearly 60 percent of the county’s roads are hard surfaced.

Repairing troubled spots, such as hillsides and washed out places has been a recent focus.

Road surfacing generally starts in early April. The county tries to get all of the paving work done by Oct. 1.

The Perry County and City of Perryville’s justice center is projected it to be completed in October. Hoehn said various departments will move in later this fall.

“It should be up and fully functioning in early January,” he said. “It truly is a state of the art facility.”

A multiuse hiking and biking trail at Legion Lake was scheduled to have a ribbon cutting for the project Aug. 8. That isn’t the full extent of the improvements there, according to Hoehn. New restrooms, as well as a handicapped-accessible fishing dock and parking area and to be completed in 2025.

This is the second time Hoehn has won the Republican primary for commissioner’s spot. In 2020, Hoehn outlasted seven Republicans who filed for the August election. That year, he received 582 out of 2,286 votes cast (25.46%), finishing ahead of the second-place finisher Todd Bergman (493 votes, 21.57%) by 89 votes.

Wengert

Wengert collected 59.16% of the vote in the District 1 Republican primary. Wengert won 1,246 of the 2,106 ballots cast as he defeated challenger Jeff Bohnert (860 votes, 40.84%). No Democratic or independent candidate filed to appear on the November ballot for the position, which means Wengert will be uncontested in the general election. The term officially starts Jan. 1.

Asked Thursday afternoon what he attributes the victory to, Wengert thought it was a proven record of success and familiarity with the county’s issues.

“I’m hoping incumbency, proven leadership,” Wengert said.

One of the key traits that helps, according to Wengert, is owning his own business.

“Being self-employed,” he said. “A lot of people run their own personal finances but run a business, and I think that’s important when we’re running a $28 million budget.”

As for goals in his upcoming term, seeing the county’s new justice facility opening and fully functional is at the top of the list.

“We’ve got to concentrate on the joint justice center, getting it open,” he said. “That’s a big building; a lot of people are going to be in it.”

Other issues of concern worth addressing are housing and day care and finding ways to better serve residents in more remote or rural areas of the county.

“We need to work on internet in the rural areas, and also I want to try to get some tornado sirens to different areas of the county,” Wengert said.

A few of the areas in his district in which the lack of reliable internet or cellular phone service is an issue include Lake Perry, Lithium and Brewer.

The goal of improving the local service begins with “reaching out to the different companies and seeing what they can offer.”

Wengert said grant opportunities should also be a consideration.

He said he is grateful for those who were behind his candidacy for office.

“Thank you for all the love and support,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to serve the people.”