by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Missouri traditionally holds its primary election on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in August - during even numbered years. That election is where voters from the two major parties - and a handful of minor parties - select their candidates for the fall elections which occur three months later.
Missouri was a reliably Democratic state from the post Civil War era up through the late 1960's, the time when the Democratic Party began embracing social change through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, voting rights, and affirmative action - and the Republican Party followed Richard Nixon down the rabbit hole of policies fostering racism and greed. And now, fifty years later, the Show-Me state is more-or-less a solidly red cornerstone of Trump country.
Well, there are a few islands of reason left in the state - the urban areas of Kansas City and Jackson County, St. Louis (city), a good portion of suburban St. Louis County, and Boone County just north of the Missouri River in central Missouri. (Boone County is the home of the main campus of the University of Missouri as well as several other institutions of higher learning.) Those four areas have, on occasion in the past, bound themselves together and kept the entire state from embarrassing itself in certain elections.
One election that comes to mind was several years ago when our state legislature tried to pass a measure to allow the concealed-carry of firearms. NRA lobbyists had a firm control of the legislature and did not want the bill to be sent into a public referendum, but some slick legislators managed to get that to happen anyway. The concealed-carry effort failed statewide, barely, thanks to Jackson County, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Boone County. (Not too long after that the state legislature voted to override the will of the people and legalized concealed-carry in the state anyway.)
Today there is one statewide initiative on the ballot - Prop A - a measure that would validate a bill that the state legislature passed last year - one that makes Missouri a "right to work" state. That bill had been blocked for several years because Missouri had a Democratic governor who was not afraid to use his veto power, but when the state elected a Republican governor in 2016, the door was open to the union-busting right-to-work legislation. Today's vote will be close, but so far none of the states who have adopted this type of law have ever been able to roll it back. Missouri's four progressive enclaves could make labor history!
The only other statewide races of significance are the ones for U.S. Senator. The Democrats have seven candidates in the race including incumbent Claire McCaskill, and the Republicans have eleven including the current state attorney general, Josh Hawley. McCaskill and Hawley are both favored to easily win their party's nominations. Additionally, the Libertarians have one Senate candidate, and the Green Party has two.
Claire McCaskill won her second term to the United States Senate through what she herself describes as some clever campaigning - although others might be more apt to describe it as devious. McCaskill studied her Republican opponents before the 2012 primary, determined the one she deemed to be weakest (a congressman by the name of Todd Akin), and then focused her campaign on him, a tactic that led GOP sheeple to conclude that if Claire feared him the most, then Akin was the one they should support. A couple of weeks ago McCaskill became the first senator to discover that the Russians were trying to infiltrate her campaign, a charge that, at the very least, grabbed a few headlines and sparked some interest among the folks back home. McCaskill is a sharp politician who should never be counted out.
Most of the other real races in Missouri today will be among Republicans at the county level. Many of those who win their Republican primaries will not even have a Democratic opponent in November - so a primary win will signify their de facto election to office.
Primary elections are for sorting and organizing. This time tomorrow Missourians will have a clear picture of who will be on the November ballot - and the slugfest for the United States Senate seat will officially kick into high gear - and God have mercy on any Russians who get in Claire McCaskill's way!
Citizen Journalist
Missouri traditionally holds its primary election on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in August - during even numbered years. That election is where voters from the two major parties - and a handful of minor parties - select their candidates for the fall elections which occur three months later.
Missouri was a reliably Democratic state from the post Civil War era up through the late 1960's, the time when the Democratic Party began embracing social change through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, voting rights, and affirmative action - and the Republican Party followed Richard Nixon down the rabbit hole of policies fostering racism and greed. And now, fifty years later, the Show-Me state is more-or-less a solidly red cornerstone of Trump country.
Well, there are a few islands of reason left in the state - the urban areas of Kansas City and Jackson County, St. Louis (city), a good portion of suburban St. Louis County, and Boone County just north of the Missouri River in central Missouri. (Boone County is the home of the main campus of the University of Missouri as well as several other institutions of higher learning.) Those four areas have, on occasion in the past, bound themselves together and kept the entire state from embarrassing itself in certain elections.
One election that comes to mind was several years ago when our state legislature tried to pass a measure to allow the concealed-carry of firearms. NRA lobbyists had a firm control of the legislature and did not want the bill to be sent into a public referendum, but some slick legislators managed to get that to happen anyway. The concealed-carry effort failed statewide, barely, thanks to Jackson County, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Boone County. (Not too long after that the state legislature voted to override the will of the people and legalized concealed-carry in the state anyway.)
Today there is one statewide initiative on the ballot - Prop A - a measure that would validate a bill that the state legislature passed last year - one that makes Missouri a "right to work" state. That bill had been blocked for several years because Missouri had a Democratic governor who was not afraid to use his veto power, but when the state elected a Republican governor in 2016, the door was open to the union-busting right-to-work legislation. Today's vote will be close, but so far none of the states who have adopted this type of law have ever been able to roll it back. Missouri's four progressive enclaves could make labor history!
The only other statewide races of significance are the ones for U.S. Senator. The Democrats have seven candidates in the race including incumbent Claire McCaskill, and the Republicans have eleven including the current state attorney general, Josh Hawley. McCaskill and Hawley are both favored to easily win their party's nominations. Additionally, the Libertarians have one Senate candidate, and the Green Party has two.
Claire McCaskill won her second term to the United States Senate through what she herself describes as some clever campaigning - although others might be more apt to describe it as devious. McCaskill studied her Republican opponents before the 2012 primary, determined the one she deemed to be weakest (a congressman by the name of Todd Akin), and then focused her campaign on him, a tactic that led GOP sheeple to conclude that if Claire feared him the most, then Akin was the one they should support. A couple of weeks ago McCaskill became the first senator to discover that the Russians were trying to infiltrate her campaign, a charge that, at the very least, grabbed a few headlines and sparked some interest among the folks back home. McCaskill is a sharp politician who should never be counted out.
Most of the other real races in Missouri today will be among Republicans at the county level. Many of those who win their Republican primaries will not even have a Democratic opponent in November - so a primary win will signify their de facto election to office.
Primary elections are for sorting and organizing. This time tomorrow Missourians will have a clear picture of who will be on the November ballot - and the slugfest for the United States Senate seat will officially kick into high gear - and God have mercy on any Russians who get in Claire McCaskill's way!
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