Just weeks into candidate filing for the 2026 election cycle opened for the 2026 election cycle, a crowded and consequential field has already emerged for both the Jackson County Executive position and multiple seats on the nine-member Jackson County Legislature.
Filing opened Feb. 24 and runs through March 31. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 4.
With open seats, legal controversies, and shifting alliances on the Legislature, voters are likely to see significant change in county leadership this year.
County Executive Race
Three Democrats have filed for County Executive.
DaRon McGee, who currently represents District 4 on the Legislature and previously served as its chair, is giving up his seat to run countywide. McGee is a former Missouri state representative and former member of the Hickman Mills C-1 School Board.
He is being challenged by attorney Stacy Lake, who ran once against former County Executive Frank White Jr. in the 2022 Democratic primary, earning 47% of the vote. Lake operates a private law practice and is seeking the office again following White’s recall.
Ryan Meyer ran for the Jackson County Legislature at Large District 2 seat in 2022 and for the Missouri House in 2014
No Republican has filed for the executive position.
Unlike members of the Legislature, the Jackson County Executive position does not have term limits.
Legislature: Majority Faces Turnover
In 2022, Freedom Inc. endorsed a six-member slate for the Legislature — and all six won, giving the group an apparent majority on the nine-member board.
Those legislators were:
At-Large: Jalen Anderson, Donna Peyton, Meghan (Marshall) Smith
District: Manny Abarca (District 1), Venessa Huskey (District 2), DaRon McGee (District 4)
Although they held the numbers, the coalition did not remain unified over the past three years. Divisions emerged, and much of the term was marked by public conflict with then-County Executive Frank White Jr., culminating in his recall.
Now, several of those seats are either open or drawing challengers.
Term Limits And Why Some 2018 Winners Can Run Again
Jackson County legislators are limited to two consecutive full four-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2019.
That effective date matters.
Because the charter amendment was not retroactive, terms that began before Jan. 1, 2019 do not count toward the two-term limit. That is why legislators first elected in 2018 — including Jalen Anderson and Charlie Franklin — are eligible to run again in 2026 even though they have already served two terms.
At-Large Seats
Jackson County voters elect six district legislators and three at-large legislators. The at-large seats are elected countywide but correspond geographically to pairs of districts.
At-Large 1
(covering Districts 3 and 5)
Incumbent Jalen Anderson has filed for reelection and is eligible under the charter’s effective-date language.
He faces two Democratic challengers:
Carla Fields, an Independence attorney with Fields & Brown, and is a past president of the Jackson County Bar Association.
Justice Horn, who previously ran for the Legislature and has been actively campaigning for months. Horn, who is openly gay, has been knocking doors across the district.
Republican Leon Weatherby has filed for this seat.
At-Large 2
(covering Districts 1 and 2)
Incumbent Donna Peyton, a retired postal worker and retired Hickman Mills C-1 School District employee, has filed for reelection and currently has no opponent.
At-Large 3
(covering Districts 4 and 6)
Incumbent Meghan Smith has announced she will not seek reelection. Susan Wilson, a former UMKC Vice Chancellor, has entered the race. Republican Leon Weatherby has also filed for the seat.
District Races
District 1
Legislature President Manny Abarca has not yet filed for reelection.
Abarca is facing multiple legal cases, including:
One misdemeanor domestic battery charge in Johnson County, Kansas
Two misdemeanor counts of harassment by telecommunications device in Reno County, Kansas
A Kansas City municipal case tied to an alleged protection-order violation
Despite the pending cases, Abarca was recently elected president of the Legislature.
Two Democrats have filed to run against him. :
Kelly Thompson, a former journalist and single mother who has described being raised in a household shaped by both Hispanic and Polish traditions.
Branden Haralson, former director of public policy and government relations for ArtsKC and an openly gay performer.
District 2
Incumbent Venessa Huskey has filed for reelection and currently has no opponent.
Before serving on the Legislature, Huskey worked eight years as a neighborhood and community liaison for the City of Kansas City, Missouri.
District 3
Current District 3 legislator Charlie Franklin, first elected in 2018, is eligible to run again under the term-limit effective date but has not filed for reelection.
Dennis Rowland, identified as a 71-year-old practicing attorney in Raytown, has filed as a Democrat.
Tony Miller has filed as a Republican.
District 4
The District 4 seat is currently held by DaRon McGee, who is vacating it to run for County Executive.
Democrat Byron Townsend has filed for the seat and currently faces one Republican opponent.
Townsend previously served on the Hickman Mills School Board alongJeanie Lauer
Antoine Jennings
Dale Carter side McGee and is considered a close political ally. Reporting has identified Townsend as the treasurer of three organizations associated with McGee that received funds from the Royals for get-out-the-vote efforts ahead of the stadium sales tax election.
District 5
Republican incumbent Jeanie Lauer, first elected in 2018 and eligible to run again under the charter’s effective-date language, has not filed for reelection.
Filed candidates:
Antoine D. Jennings (Democrat) ran unsuccessfully for the State Senate District 8 seat in 2022 and the Blue Spring School Board in 2015.
Dale Carter (Republican)
District 6
Republican Sean Smith is not seeking reelection. He is instead running for Missouri’s 5th Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.
With newly drawn congressional district boundaries, Republicans have expressed optimism about their chances in the reshaped district.
For the county legislative seat, one Republican — Bill Haley — has filed. No Democrat has entered the race so far.
Filing Continues
With several open seats, incumbents still weighing decisions, and more than a month remaining before the filing deadline, the field could grow even more crowded.
What is already clear is that Jackson County voters will decide not only who leads the executive branch, but what the next version of the Legislature will look like after one of the most turbulent chapters in recent county history.