Ongoing Coverage:

Politics

Pages

Politics
6:20 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Tobacco tax on November ballot, minimum wage and payday loan restrictions fall short

Missouri voters will be asked in November to raise the state's tobacco tax and let St. Louis run its own police department.

Read more
Politics
4:32 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Sen. McCaskill: 'Underdog' in U.S. Senate race

Credit Kristofor Husted / KBIA
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., visited Columbia, Mo., Aug. 7, 2012, to call voters and ask for support for the general election in the fall.

After U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill voted Tuesday morning in St. Louis, she traveled to Columbia’s Democratic headquarters to call on voters for support in November’s general election. She plans to fight hard to keep her spot in office from whichever opponent comes out on top in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

Read more
Politics
3:59 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Missouri primary elections live blog

Credit KBIA file photo

UPDATE: 10:13PM:

The AP calls the democratic nomination for Susan Montee (Lt. Governor) and the republican nomination for Akin (US Senate).  Though we're still waiting on over 1,000 precincts statewide, so stay tuned.

Every single Boone County precinct is in.  Recapping, again, the important races:

Northern District Commissioner: Bormann just barely inched ahead with 59 votes.  This one was a hair raiser!

District 44 State Representative: 29-year old republican Caleb Rowden takes his party's nomination.  He'll face democrat Ken Jacob.

District 47 State Representative: John Wright easily takes the democratic party's nomination.  He'll face 29 year-old Mitch Richards (what's with all the 29 year-olds?).

Governor: Republican David Spence will face incumbent Jay Nixon in the fall.  

Attorney general: Republican Ed Martin will face democrat Chris Koster in November.

Lt. Governor: Democrat Susan Montee.  No clear winner yet between republicans Brad Lager and Peter Kinder.

District 4 US Representative: Republican Vicky Hartzler will face democrat Teresa Hensly in the fall.

Secretary of State: Jason Kander.  Republican challengers are still in a three-way race.  Shane Schoeller has pulled ahead slightly but we're still waiting on a few precincts.

Amendment 2:  The AP has called "Yes."  Looks like a landslide to us, with 414,626 ayes to just 64, 018 nays.  That's with over half the precincts in.

UPDATE 10:00 PM: 

Nearly all the precincts are in Boone County.  State House district looks pretty good in favor of John Wright for the democrats.  He'll be facing 29 year-old Mitch Richards in the fall.  

The Northern District Commissioner race is the tightest we've seen this August.  With only 1 precincts left, Robbins is up over Bormann with just over 13 votes.  

UPDATE 9:30PM:

Things are moving along!  Nearly half of the votes are in statewide and a bunch of races have been called by the AP . Let's recap.

Governor: The AP has called the republican nomination for David Spence.  He'll face incumbent Jay Nixon in the fall.  

Attorney general: The AP is calling the republican nomination for Ed Martin.  He'll face democrat Chris Koster in November.

Lt. Governor: The AP is calling the democratic nomination for Susan Montee.  Brad Lager and Peter Kinder are still neck and neck in a tight race.

District 4 US Representative: Vicky Hartzler has called the republican nomination for herself.  She'll face democrat Teresa Hensly in the fall

Secretary of State: Jason Kander has accepted the democratic nomination.  Meanwhile, his republican challengers are in a three-way race that's too close to call.

Amendment 2:  The AP has called "Yes."  Looks like a landslide to us, with 414,626 ayes to just 64, 018 nays.  That's with over half the precincts in.

UPDATE 9:15PM:

Almost half of Boone County's precincts are reporting in.  Robbins and Bormann are neck and neck for the Northern District Commissioner nomination.  On the Democratic side, things are less even: Thompson leads Fugit in the double digits.  We expect these races will be decided soon.

UPDATE 9:08PM:

Vicky Hartzler calls her win for the Republican nomination in the District 4 US Rep. race.  Amendment 2 is poling at 52% but votes are still early.  The AP is calling the GOP nomination for Ed Martin (Attorney General) and Dave Spence (Governor).  More soon.

UPDATE 8:45PM:

We're at 11% precincts reporting statewide and we've got our first non-absentee ballots from Boone County.  Don Borman falls 7 points behind Lance Robbins in the Republican primary for the Northern Commissioner's seat.  On the Democratic side, public defender Janet Thompson surges ahead with 60% of the vote.  

In state rep. races, 29 year old Caleb Rowden is doing well in the republican race for the 44th.  

In other news, it's slow going over here!  Just about everyone and their mother is trying to get up-to-the second voting tallies from the Secretary of State's website.  It's been crashing periodically throughout the evening . In a tweet, the Secretary said that new software and heavy traffic were slowing down the servers . They say they're looking for a solution.

UPDATE 8:16PM:

We're up to 2% precincts reporting, and results are pretty evenly spread in the Senate race between Steelman, Akin and Brunner.  In the primary for the Governor race, Spence takes a hearty lead with 64% of these early votes.  In the Lt. Governor's race, Lager and Kinder are neck and neck for the Republican primary, hovering around 25% of the votes.  The the democratic primary, Susan Montee takes a solid lead.

Read more
Politics
2:36 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Columbia council approves consultant for zoning issues

Credit KBIA file photo

Columbia City Council voted Monday night to hire an outside consulting service to help with the revision of the city’s zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations. Council members hope hiring an outside consultant to focus on city-specific zoning issues will help spur urban growth. Community Development Director Tim Teddy says the project would be a multiyear effort.

Read more
Politics
2:00 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Health insurance cost changes being considered for State Troopers, MoDOT workers

Credit Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio

Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 4:43 pm

Missouri transportation officials are considering a proposal to restructure how much MoDOT workers and State Troopers pay for their life and health insurance.

Currently, the cost percentage varies, based on several individual factors.  Rudolph Farber chairs the state Highways and Transportation Commission.  He says the proposal they’re considering would have all employees pay the same percentage.

Read more
Politics
1:56 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Republican Primary will decide Sen. McCaskill's opponent

Three Missouri Republicans are vying for the chance to take on Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill this November.  All three have a strong chance of winning the GOP an extra Senate seat.

Read more
Politics
8:29 am
Mon August 6, 2012

GOP race for Mo. Secretary of State finally heats up after quiet start

Credit Provided photos/Flickr

Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 6:32 am

Robin Carnahan’s decision to not seek a third term as Missouri Secretary of State has opened the door for seven hopefuls from four different political parties.  The contest had been relatively quiet until about two weeks ago, when the three Republican contenders began airing TV ads and stepping up their campaign appearances.  St. Louis Public Radio’s Marshall Griffin takes a look at the three GOP candidates who want to become Missouri’s next Secretary of State:

Read more

Pages