Despite the last couple of presidential elections, Missouri is really a swing state. Beyond the deep blue areas of St Louis, Kansas City and Columbia, there are quite a few parts of the state that until recently were blue.
Before the 2016 election, every state-wide office with the exception of Lieutenant Governor was held by a Democrat. Jason Kander outperformed the presidential ticket here by 16%. People who voted for Donald Trump crossed over — in significant numbers — to vote for Jason Kander. Incredible.
With an energetic, smart and passionate new chair of the Missouri Democratic Party, Stephen Webber, Democrats are poised to grab the pendulum and shove it back hard to the side of the good guys.
MO Action is a new continuing committee formed to support progressive candidates, issues and messaging. Many out-state (rural) residents get a single-source view of the news. MO Action wants to break through that messaging and show how Trump’s policies -and the elected officials in Missouri who are hugging close both him and his policies- hurt ALL Missourians, but in very specific ways, rural Missourians.
MO Action will help progressive candidates in out-state Missouri who might be discouraged from running because it’s been so long since a Democrat was even on the ticket that they don’t feel supported.
[Okay, sidebar here. In 2016, Republicans fielded unopposed candidates in 66 districts. Sixty. Six. That means on the day filing closed, 66 Republicans were able to write checks to other Republicans who were challenged and could finish the session not feeling necessarily accountable to their voters. Who is going to hold them accountable and make them defend their actions/votes if no one is running against them? ]
We don’t know it’s a wave election until after the fact. How tragic would it be to make this same mistake in 2018 because there was not enough support for potential candidates to run and leave unchallenged seats we could have picked up. Webber is implementing candidate training, campaign training and the party will provide a lot of support helping those who want to run. The party simply cannot match in dollars the contributions of union-hater David Humphries and Rex “hey, I'd like to buy myself a government” Sinquefield (who donated $6.8 million in ONE WEEK!).
As Webber correctly notes, it’s important to define “success” in a race. Increasing Democratic turnout and votes all across the state helps Claire McCaskill in her Senate re-elction bid, our lone state office-holder, State Auditor Nicole Galloway, as well as ALL Democrats running for statewide office. And it helps progressive issues like repealing the odious “Right to Work” legislation. There are absolutely seats we can flip — starting with Michela Skelton in the 50th House District August 8th.
The first goal is $5,000 for a billboard in Ann Wagner’s (MO-2) backyard. She will either run for re-election or, more likely, be challenging Claire McCaskill. She has refused to hold a single town hall meeting.
Want to help folks in Missouri who are working now laying the groundwork for 2018?
Follow them on Twitter: @MOActionPAC
