By LYNN HORSLEY
The Kansas City Star

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, Missouri’s 6th District Republican congressman, coasted to victory Tuesday night despite an expensive and energetic challenge by former Kansas City mayor Kay Barnes.

Graves was outpolling Barnes 59 percent to 37 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting in unofficial returns. Dave Browning, the Libertarian candidate, had 4 percent.

In other Missouri congressional races, 5th District U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat, handily defeated Republican rival Jacob Turk 65 percent to 35 percent with 98 percent of precincts reporting.

Democrat Ike Skelton, 4th District congressman since 1977, beat Republican challenger Jeff Parnell 66 percent to 34 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

In the 6th District, Graves, who has been in Congress since 2001, once again capitalized on his farming background and rural roots to garner support in the largely conservative northwest Missouri district.

“It turned out well,” Graves said of his victory. “I know the district very well. … I think that made the difference.”

Graves said he will use his next term to advocate aggressively for energy independence, including pushing for ethanol and domestic oil drilling. He said he will fight against any tax increases that might be forthcoming under a Barack Obama administration.

Barnes thanked her staff and said she had no regrets.

“We knew going in it would be an uphill battle,” she said. “I made some wonderful friends all across the district. It was a good experience.”

This is Graves’ fourth easy victory over a Democrat, and it appears to solidify the district’s reputation as a Republican stronghold.

“I really question whether any moderate-to-left Democrat can win in the 6th,” said Gary Armstrong, political science professor at William Jewell College in Liberty.

Barnes had started her campaign 17 months ago with high hopes of parlaying her success as Kansas City mayor into a new seat for the Democrats in Congress. In one of the nation’s most closely watched contests, she spent more than $2.6 million, including loaning the campaign $250,000 of her own money.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee viewed Graves as a potentially vulnerable candidate, given his allegiance to an unpopular Republican administration, and spent about $400,000 on Barnes’ behalf.

Barnes had hoped to capture a majority of support in Kansas City’s Northland suburbs and in her hometown of St. Joseph while chipping away at Graves’ popularity in the district’s 23 rural counties.

But despite outspending Graves, who raised about $2.5 million, Barnes never caught up to him in the polls. She lost by nearly as big a margin as Graves’ previous three challengers, who had much less name recognition than she did.

She struggled to transcend Graves’ labeling her as a “big-city, big-spending liberal,” especially as Graves pounded her for supporting tax increases and increased city debt levels during her crusade to revitalize downtown Kansas City.

“Her track record was somewhat blemished by having given away (tax breaks) to all kinds of groups,” Armstrong said. “This is a fiscally conservative district.”