A political observer says Republicans in Missouri may have already blown their chances to win state-level statewide offices next year.
The Secretary of State’s race is the only one with any major GOP contenders (State Senators Scott Rupp and Bill Stouffer, and House Speaker Pro-tem Shane Schoeller), following Steven Tilley’s departure from the Lt. Governor’s race. Current Lt. Governor Peter Kinder (R) still hasn’t announced whether he’s running for governor.Marvin Overby is a political science professor at the University of Missouri – Columbia. He says any serious candidate for statewide office should already have a year of organizing and fundraising behind them.
“They [would have] already raised a lot of money and they’d [have] already gotten that early money that’s like yeast," Overby said. "If at this point, late in 2011, you’re still scratching around trying to find marquee candidates, to a large extent the game’s already over.”
Overby says Democrats in Missouri have two factors that might bring them success on Election Day 2012: Fallout from the mostly-failed special session, and on the national level, the lack of a clear front runner among Republicans in the presidential race.