Candidate filing for the Aug. 4 primary election opened Tuesday, with 12 Audrain County candidates seeking a spot on the ballot. 

The Audrain County Clerk’s Office reported incumbents Alan Winders, presiding commissioner; Teresa Allen, recorder of deeds; Amy LeCount, collector of revenue; Meagan Miller, circuit clerk; Melissa Buckman Young, associate circuit judge; and Jacob Shellabarger, prosecuting attorney, all filed for their respective seats on opening day Feb. 24. Stacey Higbee and Brandie Gay filed for county clerk, while Lisa Smith and Tiffnay Burts filed for treasurer also on opening day. 

As of Monday, no new local candidates have filed at the county or state level.

Filing for county offices closes March 31 and may be done at the office of Lisa Smith, Audrain County clerk, at 101 N. Jefferson St., Room 101.

On Feb. 24, Brendan Webber of Mexico filed to run for Missouri House of Representatives in the 43rd District representing communities across Audrain, Monroe and Callaway counties. He is seeking to fill the seat currently held by Rep. Kent Haden, who is term-limited. Webber is the owner of Webber Pharmacy and Jackson Street Drug, a director of the Griffin Family Foundation and a member of the Missouri Pharmacy Association legislative committee. He also served as Mexico Area Family YMCA board director and president and remains active with the organization.

Dusty Blue of Mexico also filed to run for Missouri Senate in the 18th District representing communities across Adair, Audrain, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Macon, Marion, Monroe, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Schuyler, Scotland and Shelby counties on opening day. He is seeking to fill the seat currently held by Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin who is term-limited.

Winders has served as presiding commissioner since 2021 after he was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson. Prior to that, he served as Audrain County Eastern District commissioner since 2017 and was Vandalia’s city administrator for 14 years.

Allen, a lifelong resident of Audrain County, was elected Audrain County recorder of deeds in 2022 after her former supervisor and recorder Janis Diemeke retired.

LeCount replaced former collector Kate Becker, who retired in March 2023. Prior to that, she was the chief deputy collector for six years. 

Miller, a Mexico resident, replaced Penny Creed, who served as circuit clerk for 24 years. Prior to her election, Miller worked for the Audrain County Circuit Clerk’s Office part time as a student in 2007 and accepted a full-time position after high school. 

Young was appointed to the position in February 2024 by Gov. Mike Parson. As the county’s sole associate circuit judge, she handles civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile cases and oversees compliance dockets for domestic violence and child support probation.

Shellabarger has served as the county’s prosecutor since July 2009, when he was appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon. Shellabarger’s office files approximately 1,000 criminal cases each year in addition to reviewing hundreds of investigations and issuing approximately 800 traffic citations. 

Higbee has worked in the county clerk’s office for seven years, serving as deputy clerk for the past two years. As the deputy clerk, Higbee assisted Smith with a variety of election tasks including working with municipalities on their local elections, supervising and handling the public tests of voter equipment, setting up the machines and precincts for a smoother election process, and assisting the clerk and election volunteers with ballots and reporting the final counts.

Gay currently serves as the city clerk for the City of Vandalia. Prior to that, she spent 11 years working for M&M Vehicle Corp in Mexico, working under the direction of Chris and Vivian Miller. 

Smith has served as Audrain County clerk for eight years. During her tenure she has served as budget officer and election authority. As county clerk, Smith works closely with the treasurer and is responsible for preparing the annual financial statement, assisting in setting tax rates, and certifying railroad and utilities assessments to the state. 

Burts has worked for Audrain County for 10 years during which she served as the Road and Bridge clerk and administrative assistant to the county commission for Road and Bridge. For the last three years she has worked in the County Clerk's Office handling accounts payable, monthly budget reports, employee benefits and payroll. She also works alongside the treasurer to balance budgets and assist with financial reporting.