Billy Long's Vote Totals in Missouri 7 Tell an Untold Story: Long Finishes Third Among Winners

There is no doubt Billy Long won big on Tuesday. Of course, Long always knew the real election was in the Republican primary in August, and for that, he went very negative using character assassinations tactics against Jack Goodman and Gary Nodler while complaining about 527 money coming in exposing Long's service at the Springfield Branson Airport, which he sought an earmark for.

In real irony, Long pointed the finger at Jack Goodman and Gary Nodler for the earmark commercial without ever producing evidence to support his claim. The Springfield News-Leader gave him a pass. However, we all know what happened with Long's general election opponent Scott Eckersley used Long's character assasination tactic in the general election. The News-Leader was all over Eckersley.

One has to wonder considering this untold story, how many votes that attacks on Jack Goodman and Gary Nodler cost Long. It's obvious they did.

I spoke to a Republican insider yesterday who shared with me the untold story of the Missouri 7 race. While many would expect Long's impressive numbers to lead the district in total voters, this GOP insider told me that simply wasn't the case. Scanning the Missouri 7 polls, Long didn't top GOP candidates that were on the ballot in all MO-7 precincts. In fact, Long didn't even come in second.

In order of total votes, Roy Blunt carried the best tally in MO-7, followed by Auditor elect Tom Schweich. That's right, the auditor position got more votes in Missouri 7 than Billy Long. Long finished third. It might be said enthusiasm for Long, despite his large vote amount, may not be as strong as one would expect, especially since Blunt isn't a favorite with tea party voters and has many conservatives questioning his stand on many issues. As well, Tom Schweich is in one of those positions that many voters don't go into the polls knowledgeable of, so they tend to skip that vote or vote by position. Considering these two finished ahead of Long in voting totals, one would expect there will be talk of a challenger in the next few months to run against Long.