NATIONAL ELECTION UPDATE

Political Makeup of the 111^th Congress

When the 111^th United States Congress convenes in January of 2009, it will be the first time that Democrats have controlled both the Executive and Legislative branches of government since 1994.

On Tuesday, Democrats expanded their majority in both the House and the Senate that they have held since 2006. Though races in Alaska, Georgia, Oregon and Minnesota are still too close to call, Senate Democrats picked up five seats so far for a total of 56 (including two Independents who usually side with the Dems), while Republicans will hold at least 40 seats in the Senate.

In the House, Democrats will increase their majority from 236 seats to at least 254 out of the 434 members, with 8 races still undecided.

In Missouri, 8 congressional incumbents held onto their seats, including Sam Graves (R-06) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-05) in the Kansas City area. Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer beat Democrat Judy Baker in an open race for Missouri’s 9^th District that was previously held by Gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof.

In Kansas, incumbent Dennis Moore (D-03)--representing Johnson, Wyandotte, and Douglas counties—maintained his seat in a race against State Senator Nick Jordan (R-Shawnee). Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, a first-term incumbent in the Topeka area, was unseated by Republican Lynn Jenkins who has served as the Kansas State Treasurer since 2002. Senator Pat Roberts also prevailed against a challenge from Democrat Jim Slattery, a former Kansas Congressman.

What’s next for children’s issues in Congress?

Now that the campaign season of shaking hands and kissing babies is over, child advocates will be looking to see which children’s issues will actually become a priority in the next year for our new President and Congress.

Nationwide exit polls from Tuesday’s election showed that 63% of voters said the economy was the most important election issue and about two-thirds of voters said they were concerned about their ability to afford health care. In the wake of the recently enacted $700 billion economic rescue package, Congress has not addressed the short-term economic conditions that direct affect families with children, including rising food prices, job insecurity, home foreclosures, and the growing unaffordability of health care.

Voices for America’s Children has compiled a report of the 2008 Congressional Victories for children as well as “unfinished business” that lies ahead for the 111^th Congress and the new Obama administration.

Major items on the agenda for children in 2009-2010 include:

• State Children’s Health Insurance (SCHIP) Reauthorization
• Temporary federal Medicaid match increase
• Restore funding for Head Start
• Reauthorize and restore funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant
• Broad child welfare financing reform
• Reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

Read the full report, “Leaving Children Behind? A Summary of Congressional Activity in 2008”

MISSOURI ELECTION UPDATE

Governor’s Race

The race for the Governor’s office has been a long one for newly elected Jay Nixon.  Missouri’s Attorney General for the last 16 years, Jay Nixon has been campaigning for the state’s top spot for nearly 3 years.  Tuesday night, Nixon beat challenger Kenny Hulshof 58% to 40%.  Nixon’s support came from both sides of the aisle and from urban, suburban and rural Missourians.  Over the course of his campaign, Nixon has called for the creation of high-tech jobs, the expansion of health care coverage for the poor and health insurance for every child in the state of Missouri.  Nixon has also expressed interest in Pre-K education.  Governor-elect Jay Nixon has a tough battle ahead of him with budget estimates bleak and a Republican controlled House and Senate.

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Missouri State Legislative Round-Up

While Democrats dominated the statewide races in Missouri, taking 4 of the 5 top positions, that trend did not continue in the House or Senate.  Despite Democrats gaining 3 seats in the House, the Republicans will continue to control that chamber 89-74.  In the Senate, it is anticipated that the Republicans will pick up at least two seats to increase their majority to 22 out of the 34-member chamber, with one race in St. Louis County too close to call.  With some provisional ballots still outstanding, Republican Jim Lembke is leading Democrat Joan Barry by a narrow 56 votes out of over 87,000 cast in the district. In one of the biggest surprises of the night, incumbent Democratic Sen. Chuck Graham of Columbia lost to Republican Kurt Shaeffer (46.8% to 48.5%).

Of the 23 House and Senate seats considered to be within the Kansas City, Missouri metro area, only one seat changed party.  David Pearce, a Republican from Harrisonville, defeated Chris Benjamin for the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Chris Koster. 

Both the House Republicans and House Democrats will caucus over the next couple of days and elect leadership positions.  It is expected that Rep. Steven Tilley (R-Bonne Perryville) and Rep. Bryan Pratt (R-Blue Springs) will maintain their leadership positions as Majority Floor Leader and Speaker Pro Tem respectively. Earlier this year, Rep. Ron Richard (R-Joplin) was slated to serve as Speaker of the House after Rep. Rod Jetton (R-Marble Hill) was termed out.   It has been rumored House Minority Leader Paul LeVota (D-Independence) will be challenged for that position by Rep. Ed Wildberger (D-St. Joseph) and Rep. Rachel Storch (D-St. Louis City). 

Over on the Senate side, former Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph) will most likely be elected Speaker Pro Tem.  The Majority Floor Leader position could then be the most hotly watched race with Sen. Scott Rupp (R-St. Charles) and Sen. Gary Nodler (R-Joplin) expected to run for that position.  In addition, it is rumored Sen. Kevin Engler, a Republican from Ste. Genevieve might run for the position as well. The defeat of Sen. Chuck Graham (D-Columbia) has lead to an open path for Sen. Victor Callahan (D-Independence) to assume the position of Minority Leader. 

To read more about these races, visit Josh Rosebaum’s Politics Blog on the Columbia Daily Tribune Web site.

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Statewide Races

Peter Kinder, the incumbent Lt. Governor was the only Republican to win a statewide Race.  Kinder defeated former House Member Sam Page by a vote of 50.4% to 46.8%. 

Incumbent Democrat Robin Carnahan sailed easily to victory Tuesday night, beating her opponent, Mitchell Hubbard, with 61.5% of the vote.  Carnahan said her top priority going into 2009 is to allow early voting in the state.

After 16 years, the Attorney Generals Office will have a new face, Chris Koster, a former state senator from Harrisonville.  Koster beat out the Senate Pro Tem of the Missouri Senate Michael Gibbons with 53% of the vote. 

Missouri’s next Treasurer will be Clint Zweifel, a democrat from St. Louis County.  Zweifel won with 50.1% of the vote, beating Republican Brad Lager of Savannah who received 47.5% of the vote.  Zweifel has made college affordability one of his top campaign priorities.

Children’s Services Tax Passes in 2 Missouri Counties

In the 1990’s Missouri passed a bill that allows counties to establish local Community Children’s Services Funds to support children’s mental health. St. Charles, Lincoln, and Jefferson Counties, as well as the city of St. Louis have all passed initiatives providing necessary funding for programs and services that protect their children and prevent future problems.

This Tuesday, two more counties passed the measure – Franklin and St. Louis Counties.  Proposition 1, was approved by 59.17 percent of Franklin County voters.  The quarter-cent sales tax will support programs that reduce the risk of violence, suicide, and substance abuse for Franklin County children, teenagers, and families who can't afford mental health services or have little access to providers.

In St. Louis County, the Children’s Services Fund was approved by nearly 61 percent of voters.  It is expected to generate more than $40 million in funding to restore social services that were eliminated due to state, local and federal budget cuts. These funds will also enable the county to add prevention services to benefit children, youth, and their families, including crisis intervention services, respite-care services, services to unwed mothers and teen parents, outpatient substance-abuse treatment services, family-intervention programs, individual, group or family counseling and therapy services.

Voters Approve More Money for Schools

Missourians approved Proposition A on Tuesday, repealing the state’s $500 loss limit on riverboat gamblers while increasing casino taxes by 1% and earmarking the new funding for public education. The measure is estimated to bring $105-$130 million a year to elementary and secondary education and an additional $5-$7 million a year to early childhood programs and veterans services.

The passage of this measure will also:

• Increase casino taxes by 1 percent, to 21 percent of gross revenues;
• Cap casinos statewide at the current 13, including one under construction near St. Louis. Approval also spells the end of plans for a casino in Sugar Creek.

Proponents of the measures argued that loss limits drove away tourists and that lifting the limit would help Kansas City area casinos compete next year when casinos with no limits open across state line in Kansas.

Opponents contended that the loss limits were the only hurdle preventing Missouri’s 13,000 self-banned gamblers from walking into a casino.

KANSAS ELECTION UPDATE

Political Landscape in Kansas

While the nation is watching sweeping changes at the federal level this election year, Nov. 4^th brought little change to the overall make-up of the Kansas State Legislature. Republicans picked up one State Senate seat south of Wichita, bringing their majority to 31-9. Democrats picked up one seat in the State House, shrinking their minority status to 48-77.

Meanwhile, the Kansas Board of Education will stay in control by Democrats and moderate Republicans who are more likely to stay away from the sensational issues of intelligent design and abstinence-only education that have dominated the board’s priorities in the past. Democrat and 6-term State Rep. Sue Storm from Overland Park won the 2^nd District race for the Kansas Board of Education, representing parts of Johnson and Wyandotte County. In a recent Kansas City Star article, Storm stated that early childhood education will be among her key priorities while on the board, claiming that “it’s the best way to close the achievement gap.”

A Quick Look at Johnson County Election Results:

• Republicans held onto all 7 State Senate seats
• Democrats took 3 additional House seats, bringing their total to 6, the highest ever in Johnson County
• Democrats Milak Talia and Dolores Furtado won House seats in open races previously held by Republicans while Democrat Mike Slattery beat incumbent Ronnie Metsker (R) in the 24^th House District in Mission.
• One of the Democratic incumbents, Gene Rardin, narrowly won his seat by less than 100 votes, which could change in a recount
• Republicans now hold 16 House seats and Democrats hold 6 in Johnson County

A Quick Look at Wyandotte County Election Results:

• All three Senate seats in Wyandotte County remained in Democratic control, though Democrat Kelly Kultala ousted incumbent Mark Gilstrap in the August primary before going on to win the 5^th Senate District in the general election.
• Of the 8 house districts covering parts of Wyandotte County, 7 were won by incumbent Democrats who all ran unopposed. Incumbent Republican Rep. Owen Donohoe maintained his seat against Democratic challenger Joe Novak.

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