Missouri State Senate District 4

Missouri State Senate District 4 is represented by Karla May (D).

As of the 2020 Census, Missouri state senators represented an average of 181,026 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 176,144 residents.

About the office[edit]

Members of the Missouri State Senate serve four-year terms with a limit of two terms.^[1] Half of the Senate is up for re-election every two years. Missouri legislators assume office the first day of the legislative session, which is the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January at 12:00pm.^[2]

Qualifications[edit]

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the Missouri State Senate, a candidate must meet the following qualifications:^[3]

“

Citizen of the United States Resident of the state 1 year next preceding election ... At least 30 years of age Qualified Missouri voter for 3 years before election Resident of the district which he is chosen to represent for 1 year before election ... Is not delinquent in the payment of any state income taxes, personal property taxes, municipal taxes, real property taxes on the place of residence as stated in the declaration of candidacy Is not a past or present corporate officer of any fee office that owes any taxes to the state Has not been found guilty of or pled guilty to a felony under the federal laws of the United States of America Has not been found guilty of or pled guilty to a felony under the laws of this state or an offense committed in another state that would be considered a felony in this state ... 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[4]

”

Salaries[edit]

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislators
Salary	Per diem
$35,915/year	$121/day. Tied to federal rate. Unvouchered.

Term limits[edit]

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The Missouri legislature is one of 15 state legislatures with term limits. Voters enacted the Missouri Term Limits Act in 1992. That initiative said that Missouri senators are subject to term limits of no more than two four-year terms, or a total of eight years.^[1]

The first year that the 1992 term limits impacted the ability of incumbents to run for office was in 2002.

Vacancies[edit]

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Missouri General Assembly, the governor of Missouri must call for a special election without delay. The election mandate is sent to the county that first established the legislative district.^[5]

See sources: Missouri Cons. Art. III, §14

District map[edit]

The map below shows this district's current boundaries, not those enacted as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle.

Redistricting[edit]

2020-2022[edit]

See also: Redistricting in Missouri after the 2020 census

Missouri completed its legislative redistricting on March 15, 2022, when the state’s Judicial Redistricting Commission filed new state Senate district boundaries with the secretary of state.^[6] Missouri was the 43rd state to complete legislative redistricting. The House Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission unanimously approved the state House’s district boundaries on Jan. 21.^[7] These maps take effect for Missouri’s 2022 legislative elections.

The Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission failed to submit proposed maps to the secretary of state's office by the December 23, 2021, deadline. Therefore, responsibility for developing Senate district boundaries was assumed by the Missouri Judicial Commission for Redistricting.^[8] The judicial commission released their final plan and sent it to the secretary of state's office on March 15, 2022. The commission’s chair, Missouri Appeals Court Justice Cynthia Lynette Martin, said in a press release, "The Judicial Redistricting Commission’s work has been thorough and labor intensive, and was purposefully undertaken with the goal to file a constitutionally compliant plan and map well in advance of the commission’s constitutional deadline to avoid disenfranchising voters given the candidate filing deadline and the deadline for preparing ballots."^[9] Scott Faughn of The Missouri Times wrote that "The biggest difference in this map and that previous map is that it shifts the weight of some of the districts from rural weighted districts to evenly split districts and even enhances the suburban influence inside several republican seats." He added, "the new map produces 7 solid democratic districts, and 3 likely democratic districts. On the republican side the new map produces 18 solid republican districts, and 3 more likely republican districts," with two competitive districts when the current incumbents no longer seek office.^[10]

The House Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission unanimously approved new state House district boundaries on January 19, 2022. Fourteen of the commission's 20 members were required to approve the plan. If the commission was unable to agree on a redistricting plan by January 23, 2022, authority over the process would have transferred to the Missouri Judicial Commission for Redistricting.^[11] In a press release issued after the map was finalized, commission chair Jerry Hunter said, "I want to personally thank all of the commissioners for the hard work that was put in by the commissioners and, obviously, as all of you know, the supporting individuals that have been instrumental to helping get this map done on both sides – on both the Democratic and Republican sides."^[12] Rudi Keller of the Missouri Independent wrote, "Of the 163 districts..., there are 38 where Democrats should have the advantage, 97 where Republicans are dominant and 28 districts with past election results showing less than a 10% advantage for either party."^[11]

How does redistricting in Missouri work? In Missouri, congressional district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.^[13]

Two distinct politician commissions are ultimately responsible for state legislative redistricting, one for the Missouri State Senate and another for the Missouri House of Representatives. Membership on these commissions is determined as follows:^[13]

1. Senate redistricting commission: The state committee of each major political party nominates 10 members to the commission, for a total of 20 nominees. From this pool, the governor selects five members per party, for a total of 10 commissioners.
2. House redistricting commission: The congressional district committee of each major political party nominates two members per congressional district, for a total of 32 nominees. From this pool, the governor appoints one member per party per district, for a total of 16 commissioners.

Elections[edit]

2022[edit]

See also: Missouri State Senate elections, 2022

2018[edit]

2016[edit]

See also: Missouri state legislative special elections, 2016 and Missouri State Senate elections, 2016

A special election for the position of Missouri State Senate District 4 was called for November 8. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 7.^[14]

The seat was vacant following Joseph Keaveny's (D) resignation on July 7, 2016. He resigned to become an administrative law judge at the Department of Labor.^[15]

Jacob Hummel defeated Bryan Young and Michael Lewis in the Missouri State Senate District 4 special election.

Missouri State Senate, District 4 Special Election, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Jacob Hummel
	Republican	Bryan Young
	Libertarian	Michael Lewis

2014[edit]

See also: Missouri State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Missouri State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, followed by a general election on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 25, 2014. Incumbent Joe Keaveny defeated Bonnie Lynn Green in the Democratic primary. Courtney Blunt was unopposed in the Republican primary. Keaveny beat Blunt in the general election.^[16][17]

Missouri State Senate District 4, General Election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Joe Keaveny Incumbent	72.2%	29,041
	Republican	Courtney Blunt	27.8%	11,206
Total Votes				40,247

2010[edit]

See also: Missouri State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of Missouri State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 3, 2010 and a general election on November 2, 2010. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2010. Keaveny defeated Nick Gartelos (I) in the general election. Keaveny defeated James Long in the Democratic primary.^[18][19]

Missouri State Senate, District 4, General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Joseph Keaveny Incumbent	84.6%	35,663
	Independent	Nick Gartelos	15.4%	6,512
Total Votes				42,175

Missouri State Senate, District 4 Democratic Primary Democratic Primary, 2010
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Joseph Keaveny Incumbent	57.1%	7,946
James Long	42.9%	5,961
Total Votes		13,907

Campaign contributions[edit]

From 2002 to 2018, candidates for Missouri State Senate District 4 raised a total of $1,866,598. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $103,700 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, Missouri State Senate District 4
Year	Amount	Candidates	Average
2018	$243,811	3	$81,270
2014	$218,572	3	$72,857
2012	$57,132	1	$57,132
2010	$295,692	3	$98,564
2008	$40,871	1	$40,871
2006	$752,577	5	$150,515
2002	$257,943	2	$128,972
Total	$1,866,598	18	$103,700

See also[edit]

• Missouri State Legislature
• Missouri State Senate
• Missouri House of Representatives

External links[edit]

• Missouri Legislature

Footnotes[edit]

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