Missouri State Senate elections, 2016

Missouri 2016 elections

* * *

Presidential • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • State judges • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Candidate ballot access |

|
|

2016 Missouri
Senate Elections

Primary| August 2, 2016
General| November 8, 2016
2016 Election Results

2014・2012・2010・2008
2006・2004・2002・2000
2016 Elections

Choose a chamber below:
Select an election Alaska Senate Alaska House Arizona Senate Arizona House Arkansas Senate Arkansas House California Senate California Assembly Colorado Senate Colorado House Connecticut Senate Connecticut House Delaware Senate Delaware House Florida Senate Florida House Georgia Senate Georgia House Hawaii Senate Hawaii House Idaho Senate Idaho House Illinois Senate Illinois House Indiana Senate Indiana House Iowa Senate Iowa House Kansas Senate Kansas House Kentucky Senate Kentucky House Maine Senate Maine House Massachusetts Senate Massachusetts House Michigan House Minnesota Senate Minnesota House Missouri Senate Missouri House Montana Senate Montana House Nebraska Senate Nevada Senate Nevada Assembly New Hampshire Senate New Hampshire House New Mexico Senate New Mexico House New York Senate New York Assembly North Carolina Senate North Carolina House North Dakota Senate North Dakota House Ohio Senate Ohio House Oklahoma Senate Oklahoma House Oregon Senate Oregon House Pennsylvania Senate Pennsylvania House Rhode Island Senate Rhode Island House South Carolina Senate South Carolina House South Dakota Senate South Dakota House Tennessee Senate Tennessee House Texas Senate Texas House Utah Senate Utah House Vermont Senate Vermont House Washington Senate Washington House West Virginia Senate West Virginia House Wisconsin Senate Wisconsin Assembly Wyoming Senate Wyoming House

A total of 18 seats out of the 34 seats in the Missouri State Senate were up for election in 2016. No changes occurred to the partisan balance of the chamber.[1]

Missouri state senators serve staggered, four-year terms and half of the senate is up for election every two years.

HIGHLIGHTS

* Republicans fielded unopposed candidates in four districts, while Democrats had four unchallenged candidates.

* Three incumbents—all Republicans—did not run for re-election in 2016. All three of those seats had general election competition.

* If Democrats were to make any gains, it would have been in the ten districts that had general election competition between two major party candidates; only three seats were competitive or mildly competitive in 2012.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Introduction
* 1.1 Majority control
* 2 Retired incumbents
* 3 2016 election competitiveness
* 4 Races we watched
* 4.1 Primary contests
* 4.2 General election contests
* 5 List of candidates
* 6 General election
* 7 Primary election
* 7.1 Margins of victory
* 7.2 Important dates and deadlines
* 7.3 Competitiveness
* 7.3.1 Candidates unopposed by a major party
* 7.3.2 Primary challenges
* 7.3.3 Retired incumbents
* 7.3.3.1 Impact of term limits
* 7.3.4 Results from 2014
* 7.3.5 Historical context
* 7.4 Campaign contributions
* 7.4.1 State comparison
* 7.5 Qualifications
* 7.6 See also
* 7.7 External links
* 7.8 Footnotes

## Introduction[edit]

Elections for the Missouri State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 29, 2016.

### Majority control[edit]

See also: Partisan composition of state senates

Heading into the election, the Republican Party held the majority in the Missouri State Senate:

Missouri State Senate

Party  | As of November 7, 2016  | After November 8, 2016
| Democratic Party | 7  | 9
| Republican Party | 24 | 25
| Vacancy  | 3  | 0
Total |  34 |  34

## Retired incumbents[edit]

Three incumbent senators did not run for re-election in 2016. Those incumbents are:

Name  | Party  | Current Office

|
|

Eric Schmitt |  Republican | Senate District 15
Kurt Schaefer |  Republican | Senate District 19
David Pearce |  Republican | Senate District 21

Note: District 11 and District 23 were vacant. Those two seats were previously held by Paul LeVota (D) and Tom Dempsey (R).

Note: District 4 was vacant. A special election was held on November 8 to fill the seat left vacant by Joseph Keaveny (D).

## 2016 election competitiveness[edit]

Missouri sees a drop in electoral competitiveness.

Ballotpedia conducts a yearly study of electoral competitiveness in state legislative elections. Details on how well Missouri performed in the study are provided in the image below. Click here for the full 2016 Competitiveness Analysis »

* In the Missouri State Senate, there were 9 Democratic incumbents and 25 Republican incumbents. One incumbent faced primary opposition in the Democratic Party. There was one primary challenge in the Republican primary.

* In the House, there were 45 Democratic incumbents, 117 Republican incumbents, and one independent incumbent. Eight state representatives faced primary opposition in the Democratic Party. There were 13 primary challenges in the Republican primary.

* Overall, 18.6 percent of Democratic incumbents and 21.4 percent of GOP incumbents faced primary opposition in all of the state legislatures with elections in 2016.

* The cumulative figure for how many state legislative candidates faced no major party opposition in November in these states was 41.8 percent. This compares to 32.7 percent in 2010, 38.3 percent in 2012, and 43.0 percent in 2014.

* More details on electoral competitiveness in Missouri can be found below.

## Races we watched[edit]

Ballotpedia identified five notable Missouri state legislative races in 2016, two of which were state Senate contests.

Click here to read more about Ballotpedia's coverage of notable Missouri races »

### Primary contests[edit]

State Senate District 15 (R)

Two Republican candidates competed for the open seat vacated by a Republican incumbent.
☑ Andrew Koenig ☐ Rick Stream

### General election contests[edit]

State Senate District 1

A Republican candidate challenged the Democratic incumbent in a closely divided district.
☑ Scott Sifton (Inc.) ☐ Randy Jotte

## List of candidates[edit]

# General election[edit]

2016 Missouri Senate candidates

District |  Democrat |  Republican |  Other
1  | Scott Sifton: 48,926 (I) a | Randy Jotte: 43,227 |
3  | No candidate | Gary Romine: 54,414 (I) a | Edward Weissler: 12,555 (G)
4  | Jacob Hummel a | Bryan Young | Michael Lewis
5  | Jamilah Nasheed: 53,339 (I) a | No candidate | Steve Schaper: 9,195 (L)
7  | Jason Holsman: 60,759 (I) a | No candidate | Jeanne Bojarski: 15,931 (L)
9  | Shalonn Curls (I) a | No candidate |
11  | John Rizzo: 33,071 a | Brent Lasater: 30,318 |
13  | Gina Walsh (I) a | No candidate |
15  | Stephen Eagleton: 40,193 | Andrew Koenig: 62,988 a |
17  | J. Ranen Bechthold: 32,422 | Ryan Silvey: 51,262 (I) a |
19  | Stephen Webber: 43,179 | Caleb Rowden: 45,335 a |
21  | ElGene Ver Dught: 19,988 | Denny Hoskins: 50,288 a | Bill Wayne: 4,077 (L)
23  | Richard Orr: 34,651 | Bill Eigel: 56,870 a | Bill Slantz: 3,014 (L)
25  | Bill Burlison: 19,607 | Doug Libla: 44,373 (I) a |
27  | Donnie Owens: 19,486 | Wayne Wallingford: 56,750 (I) a |
29  | No candidate | David Sater (I) a |
31  | No candidate | Ed Emery: 57,296 (I) a | Lora Young: 10,007 (L)
Tim Wells: 11,798 (Ind.)
33  | No candidate | Mike Cunningham (I) a |
Notes:

* An (I) denotes an incumbent.
* Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our State Legislature Project.

# Primary election[edit]

2016 Missouri Senate primary candidates

District |  Democrat |  Republican |  Libertarian
1 | Scott Sifton (I) a | Randy Jotte a | No candidate
3 | No candidate | Gary Romine (I) a | No candidate
5 | Jamilah Nasheed (I): 17,156 a
Dylan Hassinger: 4,469 | No candidate | Steve Schaper a
7 | Jason Holsman (I) a | No candidate | Jeanne Bojarski a
9 | Shalonn Curls (I) a | No candidate | No candidate
11 | John Rizzo: 4,571 a
Jess Podhola: 3,750
Anthony Banks: 718
Mary DiCarlo: 862 | Brent Lasater a | No candidate
13 | Gina Walsh (I) a | No candidate | No candidate
15 | Mark Boyko: 5,330
Stephen Eagleton: 5,494 a | Andrew Koenig: 13,756 a
Rick Stream: 12,130 | No candidate
17 | J. Ranen Bechthold a | Ryan Silvey (I) a | No candidate
19 | Stephen Webber a | Caleb Rowden a | No candidate
21 | ElGene Ver Dught a | Denny Hoskins: 11,219 a
Mike McGhee: 7,954 | Bill Wayne a
23 | Richard Orr: 4,542 a
Greg Upchurch: 2,934 | Bill Eigel: 11,142 a
Anne Zerr: 10,757
Mike Carter: 5,746 | Bill Slantz a
25 | Bill Burlison a | Doug Libla (I) a | No candidate
27 | Donnie Owens a | Wayne Wallingford (I) a | No candidate
29 | No candidate | David Sater (I) a | No candidate
31 | No candidate | Ed Emery: 17,320 (I) a
Bill Yarberry: 5,777 | Lora Young a
33 | No candidate | Mike Cunningham (I) a | No candidate
Notes:

* An (I) denotes an incumbent.
* Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our State Legislature Project.

## Margins of victory[edit]

The average margin of victory for contested races in the Missouri State Senate in 2016 was higher than the national average. Out of 17 races in the Missouri State Senate in 2016, 13 were contested, meaning at least two candidates competed for that seat in the general election. The average margin of victory across these races was 35.3 percent. Across contested single-winner state legislative elections in 2016, the average margin of victory was 29.01 percent.[3]

Republican candidates in the Missouri State Senate saw larger margins of victory than Democratic candidates in 2016. Republicans won 11 races. In the nine races where a winning Republican faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 35.4 percent. Democrats won six races in 2016. In the four races where a winning Democrat faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 34.9 percent.

More Democratic candidates than Republican candidates saw margins of victory that were less than 10 percentage points. Three of the 13 contested races in 2016—23.1 percent—saw margins of victory that were 10 percent or less. Two races saw margins of victory that were 5 percent or less. Democrats won two races with margins of victory of 10 percent or less.

Missouri State Senate: 2016 Margins of Victory Less than 10 Percent

District | Winning Party | Margin of Victory
District 1 | D | 6.2 percent
District 11 | D | 4.3 percent
District 19 | R | 2.4 percent
The average margin of victory for incumbents in the Missouri State Senate who ran for re-election and won in 2016 was higher than the national average. 12 incumbents who ran for re-election in 2016 won. The average margin of victory for the eight winning Missouri State Senate incumbents who faced a challenger in 2016 was 45.7 percent. The average margin of victory for all winning incumbents in contested single-winner state legislative elections in 2016 was 31.8 percent.

Republican incumbents in the Missouri State Senate saw larger margins of victory than Democratic incumbents. Seven Republican incumbents won re-election. In the five races where a winning Republican incumbent faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 46 percent. Five Democratic incumbents won re-election. In the three races where a winning Democratic incumbent faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 45.1 percent.

Missouri State Senate: 2016 Margin of Victory Analysis

Party | Elections won | Average margin of victory[4] | Races with incumbent victories | Average margin of victory for incumbents[4] | Unopposed incumbents | Unopposed races | Percent unopposed
Democratic | 6 | 34.9 percent | 5 | 45.1 percent | 2 | 2 | 33.3 percent
Republican | 11 | 35.4 percent | 7 | 46.0 percent | 2 | 2 | 18.2 percent
Total | 17 | 35.3 percent | 12 | 45.7 percent | 4 | 4 | 23.5 percent

Click [show] on the tables below to see the margin of victory in Missouri State Senate districts in 2016.

Missouri State Senate: 2016 Margin of Victory by District

District | Winning Party | Margin of Victory
District 1 | R | 6.2 percent
District 3 | R | 62.5 percent
District 5 | R | 70.6 percent
District 7 | R | 58.5 percent
District 9 | D | Unopposed
District 11 | D | 4.3 percent
District 13 | D | Unopposed
District 15 | D | 22.1 percent
District 17 | R | 22.5 percent
District 19 | R | 2.4 percent
District 21 | D | 40.8 percent
District 23 | D | 23.5 percent
District 25 | D | 38.7 percent
District 27 | D | 48.9 percent
District 29 | R | Unopposed
District 31 | R | 57.5 percent
District 33 | R | Unopposed

## Important dates and deadlines[edit]

See also: Missouri elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Missouri in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016

Deadline  | Event type  | Event description
November 7, 2015 | Ballot access | Filing period opens for presidential preference primary
December 22, 2015 | Ballot access | Filing period closes for presidential preference primary
January 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | January quarterly report due (for period ending December 31, 2015)
February 23, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period opens for primary election
March 15, 2016 | Election date | Presidential preference primary election
March 29, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period closes for primary election
April 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | April quarterly report due (for period ending March 31, 2016)
July 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | July quarterly report due (for period ending June 30, 2016)
July 19, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period opens for general election
July 25, 2016 | Campaign finance | 8-day before election report due (primary)
August 2, 2016 | Election date | Primary election
August 23, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period closes for general election
September 1, 2016 | Campaign finance | 30-day after election report due (primary)
October 17, 2016 | Campaign finance | October quarterly report due (for period ending September 30, 2016)
October 31, 2016 | Campaign finance | 8-day before election report due (general)
November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election
December 8, 2016 | Campaign finance | 30-day after election report due (general)
Sources: Missouri Secretary of State, "2016 Missouri Election Calendar," accessed June 12, 2015
Missouri Ethics Commission, "2016 Campaign Finance Filing Requirements and Dates," accessed July 17, 2015

## Competitiveness[edit]

### Candidates unopposed by a major party[edit]

In 8 of the 18 seats that were up for election in 2016, there was only one major party candidate running for election. A total of four Democrats and four Republicans were guaranteed election barring unforeseen circumstances.

Two major party candidates faced off in the general election in 10 (55.5%) of the 18 seats up for election.

### Primary challenges[edit]

Two incumbents faced primary competition on August 2. There were five open seats and another 10 incumbents advanced past the primary without opposition.

### Retired incumbents[edit]

Three incumbents did not run for re-election, while 12 ran for re-election. There were also two seats that are vacant. A list of those retiring incumbents, all Republicans, can be found above.

#### Impact of term limits[edit]

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The Missouri State Senate has been a term-limited state senate since Missouri voters approved Amendment 13 in 1992. Amendment 13 created Section 8 of Article III of the Missouri Constitution, limiting state senators to two four-year terms. This is a lifetime limit, as is the case in 5 other states with state legislative term limits. Section 8 was later amended by Amendment 3 in 2002 so that it does not apply to partial terms.

Altogether, there are 34 Missouri State Senators. In 2016, three of them who were current members, all Republicans, were ineligible to run for the senate again in November.

The state senators who were term-limited in 2016 were:

Republicans (3):

* Eric Schmitt
* Kurt Schaefer
* David Pearce

### Results from 2014[edit]

See also: 2014 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index

There were 6,057 seats in 87 chambers with elections in 2014. All three aspects of Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Index—the number of open seats, incumbents facing primary opposition, and general elections between partisan candidates—showed poor results compared to the prior election cycle. States with elections in 2014 held fewer general elections between partisan candidates. Additionally, fewer incumbents faced primary opposition and more incumbents ran for re-election than in recent years.

Since 2010, when the Competitiveness Index was established, there had not been an even-year election cycle to do statistically worse in any of the three categories. See the following chart for a breakdown of those scores between each year.

Overall Competitiveness

| 2010  | 2012  | 2014
Competitiveness Index  | 36.2  | 35.8  | 31.4
% Open Seats  | 18.6%  | 21.2%  | 17.0%
% Incumbent with primary challenge  | 22.7%  | 24.6%  | 20.1%
% Candidates with major party opposition  | 67.3%  | 61.7%  | 57.0%

The following table details Missouri's rates for open seats, incumbents that faced primary challenges, and major party competition in the 2014 general election.

Missouri General Assembly 2014 Competitiveness

% Open Seats  | % Incumbent with primary challenge  | % Candidates with major party opposition  | Competitiveness Index  | Overall rank
16.7%  | 13.3%  | 50.6%  | 26.9  | 30

### Historical context[edit]

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

## Campaign contributions[edit]

The following chart shows how many candidates ran for State Senate in Missouri in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in State Senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests.[5]

Missouri State Senate Donations

Year  | Candidates  | Amount
2014  | 31  | $13,609,757
2012  | 41  | $13,309,748
2010  | 50  | $13,925,726
2008  | 37  | $8,685,511
2006  | 44  | $7,947,114

### State comparison[edit]

The map below shows the average contributions to 2014 candidates for state senates. The average contributions raised by state senate candidates in 2014 was $148,144. Missouri, at $439,024 per candidate, is ranked four of 42 for state senate chambers with the highest average contributions. Hover your mouse over a state to see the average campaign contributions for that state’s senate candidates in 2014.[5][6]

## Qualifications[edit]

To be eligible to serve in the Missouri State Senate, a candidate must:[7]

“  |

* Be at least 30 years of age
* Be a qualified Missouri voter for three years before election
* Reside in the district which he is chosen to represent for 1 year before election
* Not be delinquent in the payment of any state income taxes, personal property taxes, real property taxes on the place of residence as stated in the declaration of candidacy
* Not be a past or present corporate officer of any fee office that owes any taxes to the state.
* Not have been found guilty of or pled guilty to a felony or misdemeanor under the federal laws of the United States of America.
* Not have been convicted of or found guilty of or pled guilty to a felony under the laws of Missouri.
* In addition to any other penalties provided by law, no person may file for any office in a subsequent election until he or the treasurer of his existing candidate committee has filed all required campaign disclosure reports for all prior elections.

[8]

| ”

|
|

## See also[edit]

* Missouri State Senate
* Missouri State Legislature
* State legislative elections, 2016

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Missouri Secretary of State - Filing list

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Democrats and Republicans simply reclaimed seats left vacant prior to the election.
2. ↑ Under Ballotpedia's competitiveness criteria, districts that have a margin of victory of less than 5 percent are considered highly competitive. Districts that have a margin of victory from 5 to 10 percent are considered mildly competitive.
3. ↑ This calculation excludes chambers that had elections where two or more members were elected in a race. These chambers are the Arizona House, the New Hampshire House, the North Dakota House, the South Dakota House, the Vermont House, the Vermont Senate, and the West Virginia House.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Excludes unopposed elections
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 followthemoney.org, "Contributions to candidates and committees in elections in Missouri," accessed July 28, 2015
6. ↑ This map relies on data collected in July 2015.
7. ↑ 2010 Elected Officials Qualifications
8. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[show]

Current members of the Missouri State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Caleb Rowden

Minority Leader:John Rizzo

Senators

District 1

Doug Beck (D)

District 2

Bob Onder (R)

District 3

Elaine Gannon (R)

District 4

Karla May (D)

District 5

Steve Roberts (D)

District 6

Mike Bernskoetter (R)

District 7

Greg Razer (D)

District 8

Mike Cierpiot (R)

District 9

Barbara Washington (D)

District 10

Jeanie Riddle (R)

District 11

John Rizzo (D)

District 12

Dan Hegeman (R)

District 13

Angela Mosley (D)

District 14

Brian Williams (D)

District 15

Andrew Koenig (R)

District 16

Justin Brown (R)

District 17

Lauren Arthur (D)

District 18

Cindy O'Laughlin (R)

District 19

Caleb Rowden (R)

District 20

Eric Burlison (R)

District 21

Denny Hoskins (R)

District 22

Paul Wieland (R)

District 23

Bill Eigel (R)

District 24

Jill Schupp (D)

District 25

Jason Bean (R)

District 26

Dave Schatz (R)

District 27

Holly Rehder (R)

District 28

Sandy Crawford (R)

District 29

Mike Moon (R)

District 30

Lincoln Hough (R)

District 31

Rick Brattin (R)

District 32

Bill White (R)

District 33

Karla Eslinger (R)

District 34

Tony Luetkemeyer (R)

Republican Party (24)

Democratic Party (10)

v • e

2016 Elections to State legislatures

State Senate elections|

Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Massachusetts • Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

* * *

State House elections|

Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

* * *