Author: Sarah Riordan

Welcome back.  Now that you’re all up to date on the Democratic Carnahan clan, let’s go over the other controlling force in Missouri; the Republican Blunts.

To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t easy to find information on the Blunts. Most of the information obviously surrounded Matt and Roy.  However, the family’s political history goes back much further than Roy. So here’s what information is available on the power-house family’s early days.

Despite the many websites viewed in order to gather information on Leroy Blunt, none of the information provided dates for Leroy Blunt’s political career. We do know however, that Roy Blunt’s father was a Missouri State Legislator. Prior to serving as a state legislator, Blunt’s father, Leroy, was a member of school and city councils. Roy learned about politics and getting involved in the community from his father and later when on to pass whatever message his father gave him onto his kids.

Roy Blunt’s political history, because it’s still going on, is easier to track than his father’s.  Roy Blunt’s political journey began in 1973 as the Greene County Clerk.  Then in 1984 Roy was elected as Missouri’s Secretary of State.  After serving as Missouri’s Secretary of State, Roy returned to his education background and served as president to his alma mater Southwest Baptist University. He returned to politics in 1996 when he was elected to the United States Congress.  Roy is still serving in Congress today and recently announced his plan to run to fill Kit Bond’s seat in the U.S. Senate. He will be running against Robin Carnahan is the ultimate Missouri power family showdown.

Like the Carnahan family, two generations of politicians just didn’t seem to be enough.  So Matt Blunt set out to continue his family’s political legacy.  Matt Blunt’s political career began as a state rep. for Greene County, and was later elected Secretary of the State of Missouri.  After his stint as Secretary of State he became Governor of the state of Missouri at the age of 33.  He was the second youngest governor ever elected in the United States.  Matt chose not to run for reelection in the 2008 election.

In addition to Matt, Roy Blunt’s other children also have their hands in politics.  Both Andy and Amy work as lobbyist in D.C., and there’s much speculation that they too will one day run for public office.

So, needless to say, the Blunt family isn’t going to disappear any time soon.  With Roy Blunt’s recent announcement that he will be running to fill Kit Bond’s (R-District 7) Senate Seat, their hold in Missouri is as strong as ever.  Though Missourians may be feeling a need for a change of pace, it’s not likely.

So who will fill the much desired seat?  Will it be Robin Carnahan, from the Democratic power family, or Roy Blunt, the Republican from an equally influential clan?  One thing’s for sure, this is going to be one hot race.  

AUTHOR: Ashton Cope

With all the hype of the upcoming presidential elections, itʼs easy to overlook the
upcoming state-wide elections. In November, all state-wide elected officials,
representatives, half of the senators, and the U.S. representatives will be up for reelection.
Among the notable candidates for governor are Democratic Attorney General Jay
Nixon, Republican State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, and Republican U.S.

Representative Kenny Hulshof. Prior to current Governor Matt Bluntʼs announcement
that he would not be running for re-election, the outcome of the race seemed to clearly
be in Nixonʼs favor. After that January announcement, however, the outcome is
suddenly unclear. While Nixon had in essence been campaigning for several years, his
campaign had mostly been based on anti-Blunt.

The office of lieutenant governor hardly seems as heated and will probably come
down to Republicans vs. Democrats. Among the many contestants, incumbent Lt.
Governor Peter Kinder is running again (heʼs changed his mind since announcing that
he was running for governor) on the Republican ticket and Representative Sam Page of
Creve Coeur on the Democratic.

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan has filed for re-election, running against two
unknowns.

Given that the office of State Treasurer is now incumbent-free, Republican
Senator Brad Lager of Savannah and Democratic Representative Clint Zweifel of
Florissant are facing off.

The office of Attorney General is also open with Jay Nixon running for governor,
and has perhaps received the most press. With only one Republican candidate
(President Pro Tem of the Senate Mike Gibbons) and three known equally matched
Democratic candidates, this election is up in the air. Senator Chris Koster of
Harrisonville, a recent Democratic-convert, has announced candidacy, along with
Representatives Margaret Donnelly of St. Louis and Jeff Harris of Columbia.
Throughout this session, Donnelly and Harris each had different tactics, with Donnelly
putting her duties of being a representative before campaigning and Harris barely
seeing the House floor at all (except for a few key press opportunities).

All state representatives are also up for re-election, and with Democrats tending
to be the favorite, the majority party of the House is expected to change. With only half
of the state senators up for re-election, the majority will most likely remain Republican.

AUTHOR: Ashton Cope

Despite the decision made by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2006 (Weinschenk v. Missouri) that requiring a citizen to show a valid, government-issued photo ID to vote is unconstitutional, the Missouri legislature is again considering reinstating the requirement.  The House of Representatives passed the measure to the Senate last week. (HJR48 HERE)

In 2006, the General Assembly passed a bill that would require Missourians to show a valid, government-issued photo ID in order to vote.  The measure was largely Republican with strong Democratic dissenters, including Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

According to Republicans, this measure was necessary to prevent voter fraud in the state of Missouri.  Although they were never able to prove there was voter fraud in Missouri that would be addressed by this piece of legislation, they insisted this was necessary to protect the fundamental right to vote and to keep “illegals” from voting.

According to Democrats, Photo ID was a violation of constitutional rights and instituted a form of poll tax.  Many older, underprivileged, and disabled Missourians do not have a photo ID and do not have the means to get one.  The Democrats stated there was once a time when birth certificates were not issued, and a birth certificate is required in order to get a photo ID.  Since there is a fee to get a birth certificate, it was decided that this would be a form of poll tax.  Secretary of State Robin Carnahan was able to produce a list of approximately 240,000 Missourians who would be disenfranchised by this requirement.

Before Photo ID could go into affect, the Missouri Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Weinschenk v. Missouri.  So, why did Representative Stanley Cox (R-118) reintroduce Photo ID into the General Assembly?

Indiana recently had a case go before the Supreme Court of the United States (Crawford v. Marion County Election Board) regarding Photo ID, and it was decided that states could require voters to show a form of picture identification.  Already, though, there have been 13 cases of voters in Indiana being turned away for not having the proper identification – one student and twelve nuns.

The main argument being used by the republicans is, as illustrated in a debate by Representative Bryan Pratt (R-55), you have to show a photo id to rent videos, pick your niece up from school, and pay for lunch with a credit card – why shouldn’t you do so with something as sacred as voting?  Democrats are countering that renting videos and using a credit card aren’t rights expressly granted by the constitution, unlike voting.

The Senate Elections committee heard the resolution Monday and it will hit the Senate floor before the end of session on Friday.