AARP Missouri Post Election Wrap Up

If you’ve been watching the election results, you’ve most likely heard about the “red shift” across the country this year. Missouri saw this shift as well with the statewide results moving about 4 points, or a little over 100,000 voters toward the Republicans.

This shift gave Senator Josh Hawley a sizeable victory over challenger Lucas Kunce. AARP has already reached out to Senator Hawley to continue a conversation on protecting Social Security and support for family caregivers, which may be part of negotiations on a tax package early next year.

Missouri also has two new Congressmen with former State Senator Bob Onder (R-St. Charles) and current St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell (D) each winning their races handily.

The four-point shift left our State government largely unchanged. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, now Governor-Elect, has been a longtime ally and instrumental partner for current Governor Mike Parson. As the designated “Senior Advocate” for Missouri, he has chaired the Master Plan on Aging process and worked with AARP during the pandemic to encourage older Missourian to stay safe and get vaccinated. Kehoe will be a steady hand, largely keeping the Parson Administration in place.

State Treasurer Vivek Malek, who has been working with his staff and the board to implement the Show-Me My Retirement Savings plan, held on to his seat after winning a bruising primary in August.

The General Assembly will be largely unchanged, as well, with Democrats picking up a seat in the Senate and Republicans picking up a seat in the House. The Freedom Caucus will continue to be active in the Senate with at least five members. As the caucus continues to grow, it will be interesting to see if it starts to impact operations in the House of Representatives where there is no filibuster.

Moderates will continue to dominate leadership in both bodies with Senator Cindy O’Laughlin (R-Shelbina) becoming the new President, Senator Tony Luetkemeyer (R-Platte County) as Majority Floor Leader and Senator Doug Beck (D-St. Louis County) as the Minority Floor Leader. In the House, Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Patterson (R-Lees Summit) will take the Speaker’s Chair and Alex Riley (R-Springfield) as Floor Leader. Representative Ashley Aune (D-Platte County) will take the reins of the House Minority Caucus with one fewer member.

The General Assembly will appropriate the last of the Pandemic Era federal funds this year, and with the politics largely unchanged, we expect there to continue to be a push to invest in programs and projects that can bring long-term savings and ways to tighten the State Budget moving forward.

 Stay tuned!