Fitzwater re-elected to House District 49 seat

Incumbent Rep. Travis Fitzwater won his re-election bid Tuesday to his 49th Missouri House District seat.

Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, received 9,378 votes of 13,962 cast; his Democratic challenger Lisa Buhr received 4,574 votes.

Out of the 13,186 ballots cast in Callaway County’s 18 precincts, Fitzwater received 8,686 votes to Buhr’s 4,274 votes.

Missouri’s 49th House District includes southeast and south central Callaway County — including Fulton, Holts Summit, New Bloomfield, Mokane and Tebbetts — and a small area of northwestern Cole County wedged between the Missouri River and the 50th, 59th and 60th House districts.

In Cole County, Fitzwater received 69.7 percent of the vote — or 692 votes — among absentee voters and voters in one precinct.

Buhr had 300 votes — 30.2 percent — in the Cole County area of the 49th District.

Of the Cole County votes, 56 votes were for Fitzwater from absentees — or 57.1 percent of the absentee vote of Cole County residents in the 49th District.

Buhr received 42 absentee votes, or 42.9 percent of absentee votes.

The News Tribune did not immediately receive a response from Buhr or Fitzwater on Tuesday night.