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WASHINGTON —  The United States’ ceiling for female governors was shattered this week, with voters in 12 states electing women to the role, breaking the prior record of nine set for the first time back in 2004. While not all of the gubernatorial campaigns have been called as of Thursday afternoon, Arizona and Oregon voters had two […]

The post Record-setting number of women elected as governors in midterms appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democrats exulted Wednesday in outperforming expectations in the midterm elections, even as vote-counting was still in progress and control of both chambers of Congress remained unknown. The U.S. Senate will go to the winner of two of the last three races where party control is still in doubt in […]

The post Which party controls Congress? It could be days or weeks before we know appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that even though midterm election results have yet to determine which party will control Congress, Democrats had a strong night defending their majority in both chambers. Control of both the U.S. Senate and House remained unclear Wednesday as more than 50 House seats have not been called and […]

The post Biden says midterm elections turned out to be ‘a good day’ for democracy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri House Republicans chose a Kansas City-area lawmaker as majority floor leader Wednesday and a southeast Missouri representative as the caucus nominee for speaker pro tem in a post-election meeting in the Capitol. State Rep. Jonathan Patterson of Lee’s Summit, who will be starting his third term in January, was chosen to serve as  majority […]

The post Missouri House GOP pick new floor leader, speaker pro tem at post-election caucus appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Voters in five states — including GOP-dominated Kentucky — backed abortion rights Tuesday, signaling that while the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority no longer believes the procedure is protected within the U.S. Constitution, many Americans want their states to do just that. California, Kentucky, Michigan , Montana and Vermont residents voted to support […]

The post Even red-state voters back abortion rights via ballot questions, rejecting court ruling appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Standing on the Missouri Capitol steps moments after being released from prison, Bobby Bostic said the first place he planned to visit was his mother’s grave in St. Louis — a city he’d last freely walked in 1995. “I’m a free man all because of you all who supported me,” Bostic, 43, said Wednesday morning […]

The post Bobby Bostic released on parole after being imprisoned in Missouri for 27 years appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s midterm election largely went according to script.  Every congressional race was won by the party that previously controlled it. Republicans now hold all statewide offices. Democrats took advantage of a new legislative map to pick up a few seats in the state House. But a lack of surprises doesn’t mean it was an inconsequential […]

The post Five takeaways from Missouri election night 2022 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story has been corrected since it was first published.  Missouri House Democrats had their best election night in years Tuesday, adding three seats to increase their caucus to its highest total in a decade.  The party also successfully defended a St. Louis County state Senate seat that saw massive spending by Republicans. Democrats went […]

The post Democrats prevail in hotly contested Missouri legislative races appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missourians voted Tuesday to become the 21st state to legalize recreational marijuana, approving a constitutional amendment that also establishes a process to clear nonviolent marijuana-related charges from Missourians’ criminal records. Though down from the 66% of voters who approved medical cannabis in 2018, the recreational marijuana amendment on Tuesday received 53% of the vote. “Today’s […]

The post Missouri voters amend state constitution to legalize recreational marijuana appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick won the race to become Missouri’s next auditor Tuesday, easily defeating former state Rep. Alan Green. With 56% of precincts reporting, Fitzpatrick, a Republican, held a 62% to 34% lead over Green, a Democrat who previously represented Florissant in the Missouri House.  The auditor’s office, tasked with the impartial review of […]

The post Republican Scott Fitzpatrick wins Missouri auditor election appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican Eric Schmitt will be Missouri’s next U.S. Senator, cruising to an easy victory Tuesday over Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine.  With roughly 70% of precincts reporting, Schmitt led Valentine 56% to 41%.  “Missourians have always been suspicious of a federal government 1,000 miles away telling us how to run our lives,” Schmitt told supporters Tuesday […]

The post Eric Schmitt defeats Trudy Busch Valentine in Missouri U.S. Senate race appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As of midday Tuesday, voting across the country has largely gone smoothly without any major issues or incidents of voter intimidation, voting rights advocates said. In counties that did experience problems, which were typical of any Election Day, the incidents were largely attributed to faulty technology and human error. In Maricopa County, Arizona, one of […]

The post Midterm voting mostly problem-free in battleground states, voting advocates report appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Missourians have been casting ballots for nearly two weeks, and election officials have been preparing for months, following intricate state laws associated with the election administration and certification process. So what does happen to the votes of Missourians once they leave their polling places? Secretary […]

The post How does election certification work in Missouri? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In an election, all the attention is on the winners. That’s normal. Our expectations are focused on what candidates will do if they win. But this year, maybe for the first time, we need to be clear about our expectations for the candidates who fall short on Election Day. These would-be public servants have a […]

The post We have to raise our expectations for election losers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For years, electric vehicles posed something of a chicken-and-egg problem.  Mass adoption, seen as critical to cutting the largest single source of U.S. carbon emissions, couldn’t happen until the infrastructure to allow drivers to recharge wherever they were heading was in place. And those charging stations weren’t coming until more drivers switched to plug-in electric […]

The post Amid major federal investment in electric cars, it’s time for states to step up, advocates say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the wake of major coal ash spills from power plant containment ponds in Tennessee and into the Dan River along the North Carolina and Virginia border, the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2015 laid out the first federal rules for managing the ash, one of the nation’s largest waste streams, and the toxins it contains. But more than […]

The post Coal plant operators shirking responsibilities on ash cleanup, report contends appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Within seven minutes of receiving a 911 call about an active shooter in a St. Louis high school, police and armed security guards were already in the building and engaging the suspect in gun fire.  The immediate response by police and school security on Oct. 24 at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School has […]

The post Missouri Republican explores legislative push to require schools to have armed security appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Voters around the state have been taking advantage of Missouri’s first ever no-excuse early voting period the last two weeks.  The early voting period ends at 5 p.m. Monday, and polls will be open for everyone else from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.  Among the races on the statewide ballot this year include […]

The post Missouri election guide: The big questions voters will face on Tuesday’s ballot  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the last two decades, hundreds of thousands of U.S. cattle producers have gone out of business, and we are currently losing 40 operations per day by some estimates. Just in the last two years, around 1,700 small feedlots run by independent family farmers were put out of business because of corporate consolidation. This has […]

The post Just four meatpackers control 85% of the market. Missouri cattlemen like me need a voice appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On Sunday evening, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Tennessee Titans in a game essential to both teams’ hopes to enter the NFL playoffs with the best record in their conference. With Election Day approaching on Tuesday, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Schmitt is targeting the enormous hometown audience expected to tune in with […]

The post Eric Schmitt pays $75,000 for ad during Chiefs game to close out Missouri Senate race appeared first on Missouri Independent.