POLICIES OVER POLITICIANS, MOSTLY
When it comes to voters statewide, the question wasn’t so much who voters were voting for, but what.
The election cycle found Missouri with just one statewide elected office on the ballot, and in that race, incumbent auditor Tom Schweich easily won re-election over two third-party candidates who haven’t reported spending any money against him.
Voters were greeted by a series of ballot questions aimed at specific issues. The state’s eight U.S. House seats were also up, and incumbents made a clean sweep. Two local races also were grabbing attention — the St. Louis County executive’s seat and a judge’s position in Cole County.
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BALLOT MEASURES
Tuesday’s ballot featured four proposals, including an amendment to base teacher evaluations largely on student performance data. That proposal was roundly rejected.
Proposed constitutional amendment 6, which would create a six-day, no-excuses-needed early-voting period for general elections, failed.
Proposed constitutional amendment 2, which would allow allegations of past criminal acts to be used against those facing sex-related charges involving victims under 18 years old, was approved voters.
Also approved was proposed constitutional amendment 10, which would allow lawmakers to override a governor’s decision to freeze or slow spending on items in the state budget.
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LOCAL RACES, AND WHAT THEY MEAN FOR GOV. NIXON
Republicans won a supermajority in the Missouri General Assembly by adding to their already strong numbers.
Voters elected an overwhelming number of Republicans during Tuesday’s elections, giving the GOP a greater than two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. That’s enough seats to be able to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Jan Nixon without needing any votes from minority party Democrats.
The divide between Nixon and state lawmakers is so wide that U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and other top Democratic officeholders poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the state party to help finance this year’s legislative races. They’re hoping Democrats can cut into the Republican supermajority.
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ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Three months ago, the two candidates for St. Louis County executive couldn’t have anticipated how a race normally about the nuts and bolts of local government would become something of a referendum on police killings.
But the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, by a white police officer in Ferguson in August transformed the election. Brown was killed by Officer Darren Wilson just four days after Democratic County Councilman Steve Stenger defeated 11-year incumbent Charlie Dooley, and conservative state lawmaker Rick Stream won a two-man Republican primary.
Stenger became a primary target of Ferguson protesters for his steadfast support of county prosecutor Bob McCulloch — and his refusal to join their calls for McCulloch to recuse himself from the case over concerns about his family ties to law enforcement.
But Stenger apparently defeated Republican state lawmaker Rick Stream on Tuesday, by a margin of fewer than 2,000 votes, or 0.6 percent. It wasn’t immediately clear if Stream would request a recount.
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COLE COUNTY JUDGE
Attention and lots of money were poured into Cole County, where Republican Brian Stumpe received big money from the GOP in his bid to oust Cole County Circuit Court Judge Pat Joyce. Cole County is home to the state Capitol, meaning its judges hear cases that question the constitutionality of legislation or the wording of statewide ballot initiatives. The big-money strategy didn’t work, however, as Joyce — the only Democratic judge in the circuit court — was returned to her job by voters. Republican interest in the race made the local judicial election — typically sleepy, low-budget affairs — one of the more interesting races in Missouri.