Missouri
The short version: Who won, what passed Nov. 5 in Missouri general election
Missouri voters have been casting ballots for more than a week, and many of the election results were known by late Tuesday. But not all.
Here is an overview of everything on the ballot in Springfield as well as the top leaders elected in Missouri and across the U.S.
Early Wednesday morning, former president Donald Trump appeared headed to the White House. Missouri was solidly red, supporting the Republican ticket Trump and running mate JD Vance. Trump was leading Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket in projected Electoral College votes, though results were still being counted in a number of battleground states either candidate would need to win.
Republican incumbent Josh Hawley secured a second term in the seat he took from Democrat Claire McCaskill in 2018. His chief challenger was Democrat Lucas Kunce, a former Marine and military lawyer who raised significant money in his long-running bid for the seat.
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe will be Missouri’s 58th governor.
Kehoe, a Jefferson City Republican endorsed by Parson, defeated state Rep. Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat who serves as minority leader in the Missouri House, in what was a comparatively frugal campaign.
With Kehoe running for governor, the race for lieutenant governor was open. Republican Dave Wasinger, a St. Louis attorney emerged the winner in a crowded GOP primary and won the position, which serves as the next in line to the governor and breaks tie votes in the state Senate.
State Sen. Denny Hoskins, the Republican candidate, declared victory late Tuesday, succeeding outgoing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who lost a bid for governor in the Republican primary.
Incumbent Vivek Malek, a Republican appointed by the governor in 2022, secured a full term as the state’s chief financial officer, responsible for managing annual state revenues, directing bank services and overseeing the state’s investment portfolio.
Incumbent Andrew Bailey, a Republican, was appointed the Missouri Attorney General by Gov. Mike Parson, taking office in January 2023 after Eric Schmitt was elected to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate. He won his first election Tuesday.
In southwest Missouri, first-term Republican Rep. Eric Burlison retained the 7th District seat he won two years ago after U.S. Rep. Billy Long vacated the seat to run for Senate.
Missouri legislative races
All seats in the Missouri House of Representatives were up for a vote in the election, along with one of the state Senate seats in the Springfield area. Winners in Springfield-area districts include:
Senate District 29
- Mike Moon – Republican – winner
House District 129
- John Black – Republican – winner
House District 130 – Incumbent Republican Bishop Davidson was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.
- Bishop Davidson – Republican
- Leslie Jones – Democratic
House District 131 – Incumbent Republican Bill Owen was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.
- Bill Owen – Republican
- Ashley Cossins – Democratic
House District 132 – Democratic candidate Jeremy Dean was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.
- Jeremy Dean – Democratic
- Stephanos Freeman – Republican
House District 133 – Incumbent Republican Melanie Stinnett was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.
- Melanie Stinnett – Republican
- Derrick Nowlin – Democratic
House District 134
- Alex Riley – Republican – winner
House District 135 – Incumbent Democrat Betsy Fogle was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.
- Betsy Fogle – Democratic
- Michael Hasty – Republican
House District 136 – Incumbent Democrat Stephanie Hein was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.
- Stephanie Hein – Democratic
- Jim Robinette – Republican
House District 137
- Darin Chappell – Republican – winner
House District 138
- Burt Whaley – Republican – winner
House District 139
- Bob Titus – Republican – winner
House District 140
- Jamie Ray Gragg – Republican – winner
There’s was only one contested race for Greene County office, for the District 2 seat on the county commission. With half of the country’s precincts reported, incumbent John Russell, a Republican, was leading Democratic candidate Tim McGrady by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.
Other county races, all featuring Republican incumbents running unopposed, included:
Greene County Sheriff – Jim C Arnott – winner
Greene County Assessor – Brent Johnson – winner
Greene County Treasurer – Justin R. Hill – winner
Greene County Public Administrator – Sherri Eagon Martin – winner
Final results were not available by late Tuesday night but all the judges up for retention votes on Springfield-area ballots were poised to remain in office. They included:
- Judge Kelly C. Broniec of the Missouri Supreme Court
- Judge Ginger K. Gooch of the Missouri Supreme Court
- Judge Becky J.W. Borthwick of the Court of Appeals – Southern District
- Judge Jennifer R. Growcock of the Court of Appeals – Southern District
- Judge Derek A. Ankrom of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 1
- Judge Kaiti Greenwade of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 2
- Judge Dan Wichmer of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 3
- Judge T. Todd Myers of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 4
- Judge Jerry A. Harmison, Jr. of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 5
- Judge Joshua B. Christensen of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 6
- Judge Andy Hosmer of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 23
- Judge Kirsten Poppen of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 24
- Judge Josephine (Jody) L. Stockard of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 25
- Judge Ron Carrier of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 26
A question asking Springfield voters to replace the city’s expiring 3/4-cent sales tax — which since 2009 has funded the shortfall in the city’s police and fire pension fund — with a new combination of taxes of equal amount appeared to be approved late Tuesday. With 46 of 56 precincts reporting, votes in favor were well ahead, with the tax garnering more than 62% of the vote.
Amendment 2, which would legalize sports betting in Missouri, was slightly ahead in the vote tally but results were not final late Tuesday.
Amendment 3, enshrining abortion-rights protections in the state’s constitution, was approved Tuesday.
Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution and expand riverboat gambling in Missouri to allow a casino on the Osage River, had not been called late Tuesday but was trending toward defeat in late results.
This amendment, which would have allowed the state to levy court fees to support salaries and benefits for current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys, was trending toward defeat Tuesday.
Amendment 7, placed on the Nov. 5 ballots by the Missouri legislature, alters the state constitution to effectively ban ranked-choice voting in the state, as well as stipulating that only U.S. citizens can vote. It passed decisively Tuesday.
Proposition A was approved Tuesday, increasing the minimum wage in Missouri — which currently stands at $12.30 an hour — and requiring employers to provide paid sick leave. It calls for Missouri’s minimum wage to increase to $13.75 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025, then to $15 an hour in 2026, with adjustments each year after that based on the Consumer Price Index. Employers would be required to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
Missouri
Nonprofit drops $150K into PAC supporting lame-duck Missouri governor • Missouri Independent
The not-for-profit group originally set up to pay for Gov. Mike Parson’s 2021 inauguration gave $150,000 this week to the political action committee that helped get him elected.
Parson is leaving office due to term limits and has said repeatedly that he does not intend to be a candidate for public office again.
The PAC, Uniting Missouri, received the donation on Monday from Moving Missouri Forward Inc., which also paid the expenses to write and publish a biography of Parson called “No Turnin’ Back” that the governor has promoted extensively since its publication in February.
The origin of the $150,000 is unclear, since Moving Missouri Forward is not required to disclose its donors. But none of the money donated Monday was generated by sales of the Parson book, attorney Marc Ellinger said in an interview with The Independent. A different not-for-profit called Moving Missouri Forward Foundation receives all proceeds from book sales, he said, and is headed by First Lady Teresa Parson as president and Claudia Kehoe, wife Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe, as vice president.
“It paid for the book and contributed the entire cost of it and everything to the foundation as a charitable contribution, so that the foundation would have an ability to raise money through the book,” Ellinger said.
Ellinger is the registered agent for both Moving Missouri Forward Inc. and Moving Missouri Forward Foundation.
Uniting Missouri PAC had about $93,000 on hand at the end of October. Reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission show it raised about $1.3 million since the start of 2023 and spent about $775,000 this year helping two officeholders Parson appointed, Kehoe and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, win hotly contested Republican primaries.
Uniting Missouri has also spent about $120,000 for Parson’s trips to watch the Kansas City Chiefs win the two most recent Super Bowls.
Tom Burcham — a former Republican state lawmaker from Farmington with close ties to Parson’s longtime friend and fundraiser, lobbyist Steve Tilley — is in charge of Uniting Missouri. It is unclear why the PAC needs to keep raising money to support a candidate who is no longer running for public office, and Burcham did not respond to a request for comment.
Burcham is also the registered agent for a not-for-profit created in September called 57 Foundation Inc., in reference to Parson’s position as the 57th governor of the state. The nonprofit held a fundraiser Nov. 14 in Kansas City where donors paid as much as $10,000 for a table and pre-event reception with the Parsons.
The purpose of 57 Foundation, according to its incorporation papers, includes “providing essential resources and support to needful and vulnerable Missourians who cannot adequately help themselves. The foundation’s activities are inspired by and aligned with the legacy of public service and contributions of Missouri’s 57th Governor, Michael L. Parson.”
The Moving Missouri Forward Inc. donation to Uniting Missouri is roughly equal to the remaining funds raised on behalf of Parson, Ellinger said.
It will now transition to become a vehicle for funding Kehoe’s inauguration, he said.
Soon after Parson’s 2021 inauguration, Moving Missouri Forward Inc. released a list of donors who contributed $500 or more to the $369,115 raised for the festivities. The list did not include the specific amounts donated.
As a not-for-profit 501(c)(4) entity, it is not required to reveal its donors. It is required to file a statement of revenues and expenses annually with the IRS. The most recent report, filed in November 2023 and covering 2022, shows $3,000 in contributions in 2022 and $40,563 in cash on hand at the end of the year.
The filing also showed a $25,000 contribution to the Moving Missouri Forward Foundation. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) entity and contributions are tax deductible.
The purpose of the Moving Missouri Forward Foundation, according to its creation filing, is to “aid, assist, or help Missouri’s children, including but not limited to Jobs for America’s Graduates-Missouri and children with autism and special needs.”
Mike and Teresa Parson have been co-chairs of Jobs for America’s Graduates-Missouri since 2016, when he was elected lieutenant governor.
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Missouri
Mississippi State football injury report vs Missouri: Who’s in, who’s out in Week 13
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is coming off its open week with no new injuries.
The Bulldogs’ injury report for Week 13 did not show any additions from their most recent SEC injury report, in Week 11 against Tennessee. MSU (2-8, 0-6 SEC) hosts Missouri (7-3, 3-3) at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday (3:15 p.m. CT, SEC Network) in the final home game of the season.
The Tigers listed starting quarterback Brady Cook as probable after he returned from an injury last week.
The SEC newly mandated this season that each team provides injury reports for conference games. The first reports are revealed on Wednesdays and updated daily until the final report 90 minutes before kickoff. The full report is below.
Mississippi State football injury report vs Missouri
This will be updated daily as the injury reports change.
Mississippi State
- QB Blake Shapen: Out
- CB Traveon Wright: Out
- WR Creed Whittemore: Out
- WR Trent Hudson: Out
- RB Keyvone Lee: Out
- DL Kalvin Dinkins: Out
- DL Kedrick Bingley-Jones: Out
- OL Canon Boone: Out
Missouri
- WR Mookie Cooper: Out
- DE Darris Smith: Out
- QB Sam Horn: Out
- LB Khalil Jacobs: Out
- DE Joe Moore: Out
- OL Connor Tollison: Out
- S Tre’Vez Johnson: Probable
- QB Brady Cook: Probable
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Missouri
Oklahoma Still ‘Believes’ in QB Jackson Arnold After Tough Missouri Outing
NORMAN — The bye week was Oklahoma’s final chance to reset before ending the year with the gauntlet of Alabama and LSU in consecutive weeks.
To have a chance to pull off an upset either in Norman on Saturday night or in Baton Rouge after Thanksgiving, the Sooners will need much better play from their quarterback.
Jackson Arnold fumbled three times in OU’s loss to Missouri, losing two of them including the game-ending scoop-and-score, which was just the latest hiccup in the quarterback’s year-long turnover issues.
And while the offense has plenty of problems across the board, from the lack of explosive plays to protection issues by the offensive line, Oklahoma (5-5, 1-5 SEC) coach Brent Venables said the process to keep Arnold confident after another batch of back-breaking turnovers is still ongoing on the practice field.
“I think it’s gonna be the same type of experience it’s gonna be for the rest of his career and he’s no different than any other player other than he’s the face,” Venables said on Tuesday. “That goes along with that position at a place like the University of Oklahoma. That’s a position that’s a little bit … it’s a bit like the head coach position. There’s a different type of microscope and there’s a different type of focus and that’s okay he’s got broad shoulders to handle that.
“… Improving and developing, making mistakes, learning from the good and the bad… that’s just a daily task. He’s got a huge part in that experience and the development and the improving and taking ownership. You can’t deflect it. You have to have great awareness, you have to have great self-awareness and you’ve got to have great humility and then you have to have respect for what I need to do, his part, in order to improve. And that’s not just him, that’s everybody around him.”
Reviewing the loss, Arnold took full accountability for his mistakes and got to work throughout the bye week to ensure it won’t happen again.
“Obviously it was a heartbreaker, you never want a game to end like that,” he said on Monday. “For me in the quarterbacks room, I’ve got to look back at the film and watch it. I can’t fumble like that, can’t turn the ball over but at the same time, we’ve got two more games. We’ve got two more great teams we’ve got to play so we’ve got to put it behind us and move forward.”
Arnold also said him and the entire team were happy to be able to get an extra week to prepare for the No. 7-ranked Crimson Tide (8-2, 4-2), as Kalen DeBoer’s team continues to get better and better throughout the season.
But Arnold also got another boost on Monday.
He was named a captain by Venables and the coaching staff for the home finale, something that the OU coach said has been earned throughout Arnold’s attitude in practice all throughout the season.
“We love Jackson, and we believe in him,” Venables said. “But it’s a sign of he’s one of our best leaders that we have on the team. And there’s plenty of guys going through, rough spots that still have the ability to lead and fight and compete. So that goes along with that position as well. But representing the offensive side of the ball, those are two of our best leaders, Troy Everett and Jackson Arnold.”
That faith in the coaching staff wasn’t lost on Arnold.
“Yeah, no, it’s awesome,” he said. “Just knowing that the team and the coaches have my back and support me, it’s a good feeling for sure and I’m super appreciative of those guys.”
The Sooners are fully focused on knocking off Alabama and extending the program’s 25-year bowl streak, but there will be plenty of decisions that need to be made in the coming weeks.
Arnold committed to play for then-offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, but he stayed to take over as OU’s central piece on offense.
The season hasn’t gone to plan, as evidenced by Seth Littrell’s dismissal, and without an offensive coordinator in place for the 2025 season, Arnold declined to shed light on what the next step is for him either way.
“I stay in my lane, I stay focused,” Arnold said about blocking out the outside noise surrounding a potential transfer. “I have Snapchat, so I talk to my friends, talk to my family, call them and talk to my girlfriend, but other than that I don’t go on any social media.
“And regarding my future, like I just — I mean, we’ve got two great teams left that we gotta go against, I’m just taking it week by week.”
So regardless of what the next month brings for Arnold and Oklahoma, the Sooners are focused in getting the best out of their young quarterback over the next eight quarters.
“It’s not him alone. It’s Coach (Kevin) Johns, it’s Coach (Joe Jon) Finley, it’s Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh and Coach (DeMarco) Murray,” Venables said. “Making sure that their guys are prepared and detailed so that it helps him have success and stay into a rhythm — have a clean pocket and make good decisions. Everybody has a role in that and confidence as a young player is always something.
“The confidence usually comes from the work. And then, I’m not gonna lie, the confidence takes a shot when you’re not successful. And so we gotta do, all of us together, gotta do a good job of hitting it head on.”
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