Missouri 2008 General Election Results

Missouri Citizens for the Arts posted the following comprehensive summary of the recent elections and new state and legislative leadership in Missouri.

Some of the interesting results from the bicyclist's perspective:

• Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, who was the prime supporter and organizer of the Tour of Missouri, prevailed over challenger Sam Page (who also pledged to continue the Tour if he were elected)
  
  
• Chris Kelly, who in a previous stint in the Missouri House, led the effort in the Missouri House to establish the Katy Trail, defeated incumbent Ed Robb to win the race for 24th house district
  
  
• Kurt Schaefer, who played a key role in the DNR's negotiations with AmerenUE to allow the Katy Trail Connection to Kansas City to go forward with $18 million in funding from that Ameren agreement and made a Katy Trail ride part of his campaign, defeated incumbent Senator Chuck Graham in the 18th District.
  
  
• Senator Charlie Shields, a supporter of the efforts to improve bicycling, walking, and trails in the St. Joseph area and key figure in bringing the Tour of Missouri to St. Josseph this year, will be President pro tem of the Missouri Senate--the leader of the Senate.
  
  
• Senator Kevin Engler, a key supporter of bicycling and sponsor/co-sponsor of several key pieces of bicycle/pedestrian legislation of the past years, is Majority Floor leader in the Senate--the #2 position.
  
  
• Rep. J.C. Kuessner, one of the key supporters of bicycling in the southeast part of the state, continues as Assistant Minority Floor Leader, the #2 position for among Democrats in the House.
  

Kinder, Shields, Kuessner, Engler, and Governor-elect Jay Nixon were among the recipients of awards given by MoBikeFed during Bicycle Day 2008--each for some specific action they had taking in support of bicycling, walking, or trails.

Nearly 3 million Missourians turned out to vote on Tuesday, setting a new record for votes cast in a presidential election. There were 240,000 more ballots cast in this year's election than in 2004.

The presidential race may ruin Missouri's "bell weather" status. Unofficial results show a very slight win for John McCain (1,442,613 vote or 49.4%) over Barack Obama (1,436,745 or 49.2%).

The Democrats recaptured the Governor's office as long-time Attorney General Jay Nixon comfortably defeated Republican Congressman Kenny Hulshof. Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder defeated Rep. Sam Page to retain his office. Kinder's margin of victory was slightly over 74,000 votes. State Senator Chris Koster, who switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, defeated Republican State Senator Mike Gibbons by more than 157,000 votes. Democrat State Representative Clint Zweifel won his race for State Treasurer against Republican State Senator Brad Lager by over 90,000 votes. Democrat Incumbent Secretary of State Robin Carnahan easily defeated her Republican challenger for a second term in that office.

Statewide Races
*(winners designated in bold type)

Governor
Hulshof (R)39.5%
Nixon (D)58.4%

Lt. Govnernor
Kinder (R)49.9%
Page (D)47.3%

Treasurer
Lager (R)47.2%
Zweifel (D)50.4%

Secretary of State
Hubbard (R)35.6%
Carnahan (D)61.8%

Attorney General
Gibbons (R)47.2%
Koster (D)52.8%

Missouri Congressional Races
There were only two highly visible races for congressional seats in Missouri. Sixth District Incumbent Congressman Sam Graves (R) comfortably defeated former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes by a margin of 59.4% to 36.9%. In the race to replace Congressman Kenny Hulshof in the Ninth District, Republican Blaine Leutkemeyer defeated Democrat Judy Baker (50% to 47.5%).

State Senate
Perhaps the most surprising election results were races for several state senate seats. Republicans chalked up a victory by capturing two additional seats previously held by Democrats. The new Republican majority is 23 - 11.

Notable among the state senate races are:

·Incumbent Democrat Chuck Graham lost his bid for re-election to newcomer Republican Kurt Schaefer;
·Republican Jim Lembke defeated Democrat Joan Barry to capture the 1st District seat previously held by Democrats;
·Republican David Pearce defeated Democrat Chris Benjamin in the 31st District which was previously held by Democrats;
·Republican Luann Ridgeway defeated Democrat Sandra Aust to retain her seat in district 17;
·Republican Eric Schmitt defeated Democrat James Trout to hold on to the 15th District for the Republicans.

Missouri House of Representatives
Democrats picked up a net of 3 seats in the 163 member Missouri House of Representatives, far less than pundits had predicted. Going into the election, Republicans held the majority by a margin of 92-71. The post-election majority is 89-74.

Notable among the House races are:

·District 3 - an open seat previously held by the Democrats was captured by the Republicans;
·District 17 - Incumbent Republican Vicki Schneider lost her bid for re-election to Democrat challenger Kenny Biermann;
·District 24 - Incumbent Republican Ed Robb lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Chris Kelly;
·District 85 - Democrat Vicki Lorenz Englund picked up this seat which was previously held by Republicans;
·District 91 - Democrat Jeanne Kirkton picked up this seat which was previously held by Republicans.

Legislative Leadership
The House and Senate elected new Leadership on Thursday. The Senate elected Senator Charlie Shields as President Pro-Tem, Senator Kevin Engler as Majority Floor Leader, and Senator Victor Callahan as Minority Floor Leader.

The House elected Representative Steven Tilley as Majority Floor Leader, and Representative Paul LaVota as Minority Floor Leader. The entire House will vote on the Speaker of the House in January. However, Representative Ron Richard has already been selected by the majority party as Speaker-elect.

Statewide Ballot Measures
Constitutional Amendment 1 - English as the official language
Passed: 85.8% - 14.2%

Constitutional Amendment 4 - Stormwater funding
Passed: 57.8% - 42.2%

Proposition A - Casino gambling removal of loss limits, increased gross receipts tax, limits licenses
Passed: 56.2% - 43.8%

Proposition B - Home health care funding
Passed: 75.2% - 24.8%

Proposition C - Renewal energy mandates
Passed: 66% - 34%

To view all election results, go to the following link:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/allresults.asp?eid=256