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The Missouri Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
. Its chair is Russ Carnahan, the vice chair is Yvonne Reeves-Chong, the treasurer is Glenda Bainbridge, and the secretary is Joshua Dunne. Although the party was in the majority in state government as recently as the 1990s, the rival Republican Party has since substantially overtaken it. As a result of the 2022 elections, the Democratic Party controls none of Missouri's statewide offices for the first time since
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.


History


20th century

The Missouri Democratic Party politics were characterized by diverse cultural, economic and social issues which led to antagonism between two party factions in the 1920s. The conflicts, mainly due to the dysfunctional relationship between Senator Jim Reed and President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
, led to a disruption for the Missouri Democratic Party, degrading the party to minority status throughout most of the 1920s. The dispute was over whether the US should join the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
or not. Reed strongly opposed this while President Wilson was a strong supporter of it. This question led to debate in many states but none was so affected as Missouri. President Wilson wanted to form a strong national leadership, while Reed wanted more state control. Despite most Missourian Democrats favoring entrance to the organization, Reed remained firm in his stand, which caused some state Democrats to create their own pro-League club called "The Missouri State Democratic Club". Among the supporters for Reed were mainly Irish immigrants settled in the urban part of Missouri. The supporters for the President mainly resided in the more rural parts of the state.Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.161#" Another big issue within Democratic politics was the
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
issue. In the state of Missouri, wet candidates tended to win office, although dry candidates were found both in the Democratic and the Republican party. Republicans managed to agree to a higher degree than Democrats on a wet stand, which might be one of the reasons why they managed to win all of the presidential and gubernatorial elections during the 1920s. The African-American part of the state population, who earlier had favored the GOP, for the most part switched sides in the beginning of the 1930s. This was partly caused by the Democratic Party's 1928 backing of Joseph L. McLemore for Congress, making it the first ever nomination of an African-American for Congress.Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.163#" Also contributing to the change was the Republicans' inability to handle the Great Depression. During the phase-out of the party bosses, power moved from Kansas City to St. Louis, which had been a Democratic city since 1933.


21st century

In the 2010 elections, the Missouri Democratic Party won three of the nine
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districts. That is a loss of one seat compared to the 2008 House of Representative elections. On a national level Missouri is known as a swing state. The voters of Missouri have voted against the eventual winner four times in the presidential elections, favoring Adlai Stevenson over
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2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
. Harry S. Truman is probably the most influential person in the history of the Missouri Democratic Party. Truman played an important role in Missouri politics after the depression in 1929. He was one of the main beneficiaries of the powerful Tom Pendergast organization. The backing of the organization helped Truman secure Missouri's senator seat in the 1932 election. Truman later on, in 1944, got elected vice president to
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
. After Roosevelt's death Missouri got its first President. Truman remained in the seat even after the 1948 election, given a large support from his home state. Especially the
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
part of the population, appreciative of Roosevelt's New Deal and Truman's Fair Deal program, stayed loyal to the Democratic Party. In 2023, former Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan became the Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party, replacing Michael Butler. The Missouri Democratic Party has seen some policy success in the state in recent years, with 2020 Missouri Amendment 2 expanding Medicaid and 2024 Missouri Amendment 3 ensuring legal access to abortion.


Current Democratic officeholders

The Missouri Democratic Party holds none of the six statewide offices, none of the state's U.S. Senate seats and two of the state's eight U.S. House seats.


Legislative Leadership

* Senate Minority Leader: Doug Beck * House Minority Leader: Ashley Aune * Assistant House Minority Floor Leader: Richard Brown * House Minority Whip: Ashley Aune * House Minority Caucus Chair: Ingrid Burnett * House Minority Caucus Secretary: Gretchen Bangert * House Minority Policy Chair: Jamie Johnson Nicole Galloway was the last elected statewide Democrat, elected as State Auditor of Missouri.


Federal

* U.S. Senate **None Both of Missouri's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Republicans since
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. Claire McCaskill was the last Democrat to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.


U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the eight seats Missouri has in the U.S. House of Representatives, two are held by Democrats, both of whom are
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
:


Mayors

* Kansas City:
Quinton Lucas Quinton Donald Lucas (born August 19, 1984) is an American politician elected in 2019 as the 55th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, and is the city's third African-American ...
(1) * St. Louis: Cara Spencer (2) *
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: Rory Rowland (5)


See also

* Political party strength in Missouri


Notes


External links


Missouri Democratic Party
{{Authority control Missouri Democrats Democratic Party
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...