I'm Tired of Losing
Missouri has no minority party
Jason Smith has represented Missouri’s 8th Congressional district since before the Ferguson Uprising. He has enough seniority now to be chair of the House Ways and Means committee - one of the most powerful men in Congress.
He’s dumber than a bag of rocks, and his district - with the the richest farmland in Missouri - is one of the poorest in the country. I keep seeing Democrats on Twitter blame the Missouri GOP for us being the most corrupt state in the nation. So what gives?
Enter the Missouri Democratic Party.
I should point out here that, as a sitting elected Democratic office holder (archive link for when the House takes it down after this year), I probably shouldn’t be attacking my own party. But they have declared (through a labor lobbyist) that they don’t want to associate with me, the now-defunct Riverfront Times (as well as the New York Post, which attacked the president’s son) have attacked me, and I’ve basically been drummed out of politics. So I’m not sure what I have to lose here.
Abortion Petition
Let’s start with the abortion petition. This is supposed to be key to the Missouri Democrats’ success in November. They say the petition circulated would legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability. There were lawsuits to delay it from gathering signatures, and once that was over, they had to decide which petition, but still, it collected more than twice the required number of signatures. Even the Catholic Conference got involved.
Missouri’s abortion laws are draconian. It is a crime to perform any abortion, and if a doctor is charged, they can plead that it was to save the life or health of a mother, as an affirmative defense.
And the abortion ballot initiative circulated doesn’t change any of that.
Party Leadership
Missouri Democrats change party chairs like clockwork. It seems like every two years since I’ve been in office, there has been a new party chair. The most recent departure was Michael Butler, former state representative and St. Louis Recorder of Deeds, who owns an all-you-can-drink bar in St. Louis. He was reelected as chair in 2022, then he resigned as chairman so he could open a franchise in New Orleans
Russ Carnahan was elected to replace Michael. Russ is a former congressman from a political family (his father, Governor Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash while campaigning for the US Senate) but hasn’t really been involved in politics since 2016. He says he was asked to run for chair.
He didn’t reveal his FARA short form while he was running for chair—or after he was elected. I think most Missouri Democrats either don’t know or don’t care.
Congressional Candidates
Missouri has 8 congressional districts, and there was a big redistricting fight in 2022 over whether we would have a 5-3 or 6-2 map (or did they want 7-1?). The Senate finally settled on 6-2 and adjourned early for the year.
Congressional races are one of the few in Missouri that allow Democratic primaries. Still, 2 candidates—John Kiehne and Erik Richardson—withdrew after they drew a primary challenger. Here’s Kiehne’s announcement of withdrawal from CD-2 (Ann Wagner); Richardson (who was running for CD-6) has blocked me on Twitter.
Randi McCallian
Randi McCallian is someone for whom I had high hopes. She is running against Jason Smith and has some really good insight into the struggles of her district. She really seems to care about the people there.
But, as she’s running to replace one of the most powerful men in Congress, she’s asking for $8 donations. Eight. Dollars. She knows she’s getting bad advice from the party, and she seems content to lose this election.
That’s a problem.
State Legislative Candidates
I can’t think of a single House or Senate race that has a Democratic primary and a Republican opponent. There are unopposed Republican seats, and there are Republicans who are opposed by a single Democrat. I often hear, “there’s not enough money in Missouri Democratic politics to primary each other.
It’s an excuse.
Meanwhile, we have Democratic candidates sticking their phones in 17-year-olds cars. It’s almost like they want to lose.
Judicial elections
Meanwhile, the Democrats are ignoring judicial elections entirely. According to the Missouri Secretary of State, less than 5% of judicial candidates are Democrats.
I could continue for quite a while, but I think you get the picture.