Missouri's 4th

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

comprises west central Missouri. It stretches from

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to the southern suburbs of

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, including a sliver of Kansas City itself. The district is predominantly

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and relatively

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; George W. Bush defeated

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64% to 35% in the 2004 election and

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defeated

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61% to 38% in the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are ...

. The district is currently represented by Vicky Hartzler, a Republican. She was first elected in the 2010 election, defeating 34-year Democratic incumbent Ike Skelton. This district had historically been a Democratic Party stronghold. Antipathy to the

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had its origins in the

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and the infamous General Order 11. The Union Army ordered evacuation of the county in an attempt to reduce support for and the power of bushwhacker guerrillas. After the Civil War, there was

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of white males (mostly Democrats) who had been active for the Confederacy until they took loyalty oaths, or until 1870. The area was filled with conflict between Missouri's Radicals, who joined the Republicans, and Conservatives, who were Democrats. By 1880 former secessionists dominated Missouri's congressional delegation and state legislature. Gradually this area developed a character similar to yellow dog Democrat districts in the South. Until 2010, only one Republican had been elected here since the

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, and only for one term. However, several demographic trends have converged to erode the Democratic base in this district. First, as the ''

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'' election maps show, the predominantly rural counties lining the Missouri River have sharply trended Republican between the 2000 Senate election and the 2006 election, following trends across the South. Secondly, population losses in Kansas City resulted in the 4th gradually losing much of its share of heavily Democratic Jackson County to the Kansas City-based 5th district. Until 1983, the district stretched as far as

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on Kansas City's eastern border; as late as 1973 it included the eastern portion of Kansas City itself. To compensate for the loss of territory closer to Kansas City, large portions of heavily Republican Southwest Missouri were reassigned from the neighboring 7th district. The result of these trends resulted in a dramatic collapse of Democratic support in the district.

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, and

won less than 40% of the vote here. It ultimately presaged Ike Skelton's defeat by Hartzler in 2010. Since Skelton's defeat, no Democrat has managed even 40 percent of the vote.

List of members representing the district

Election Results

2010 Election

2012 Election

2014 Election

2016 Election

2018 Election

2020 Election

Counties

There is a total of 24 counties included in MO-04.

Election results from presidential races

2008 Presidential Election Results by County

The table below shows how individual counties in MO-04 voted in the 2008 presidential election.

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(R-

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) won every single county in MO-04 and swept the district with 60.58 percent of the vote while

(D-

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) received 37.87 percent, a 22.71-percent margin of victory for the GOP.

2008 Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary Election Results by County

The table below shows how individual counties in MO-04 voted in the 2008 Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary. Former

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

(D-

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) swept the district by a convincing margin over

(D-

). Clinton won every county in the district with the exception of Cole County, home of the State Capitol.

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Missouri's 4th Congressional District 04 Constituencies established in 1847 1847 establishments in Missouri Constituencies disestablished in 1933 1933 disestablishments in Missouri Constituencies established in 1935 1935 establishments in Missouri