This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 13, 2012 - Platte County Republican Jason Brown once likened the Missouri Senate to the Temple of Doom, and not just because the cavernous ceilings and ornate artwork are reminiscent of an ancient palace.
Rather, the General Assembly’s upper chamber can be a graveyard for bills, mainly because one senator can change the course of the small legislative body through force of personality or with strategic alliances. That’s even the case for legislation that seems to have broad consensus, such as reauthorizing projects paid for with federal stimulus money or wide-ranging economic development legislation.
But term limits are bringing a new crop of people into the Senate, which will likely have a Republican majority for the foreseeable future. And some -- such as Majority Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles -- said he is hopeful that new GOP members could help calm tensions in a body that’s seen plenty of strife.
“They’re passionate. They have strong opinions. But they’re also very thoughtful,” said Dempsey, who will potentially take over next year as Senate president pro tem. “I think respect had been something that we had been missing. I think the combination of term limits and legislative redistricting, there was some personal animosity that we’re not going to have next year.”
Likely new GOP members include former state Reps. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, and Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville, as well as state Reps. David Sater, R-Cassville, and Rep. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau. Three of the victors – Cunningham, Sater and Wallingford – are unopposed in November, while Emery is expected to prevail in the Republican-leaning 31st District.
The group’s road to the Senate was often rocky. Cunningham and Sater had to maneuver through crowded primaries, while Wallingford – a first-term lawmaker – had to defeat the more legislatively experienced state Rep. Ellen Brandom, R-Sikeston. Emery narrowly defeated state Rep. Scott Largent, R-Clinton, after coming in a third in a 2010 state Senate race that Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, eventually won.
Outside money also played a big role.
A PAC that Noranda funded in the past spent a considerable amount of money attacking Emery and helping one of Cunningham’s opponents.A recently formed nonprofit entity known as Missourians for Low Energy Costs gave the committee hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Missouri Club for Growth PAC – funded almost entirely by retired financier Rex Sinquefield – also infused tens of thousands of dollars into the campaigns of Emery and Sater, as well as to Cunningham and Wallingford’s opponents.
Those PACs also played a role in the 5th Senatorial District contest. Missourians for Higher Utility Rates assisted state Rep. Jeanette Oxford, D-St. Louis, over state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, and Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis. And Club for Growth PAC spent roughly $10,000 on mailers attacking Oxford and Wright-Jones, to the benefit of the eventual winner Nasheed.
New tone?
At least three Republicans who emerged out of contested primaries in 2010 made their mark in the first two years of their terms. Sens. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, Brian Nieves, R-Washington, and Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, have at times clashed with GOP leadership, sometimes joining with existing members – such as Sens. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, and Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau – to filibuster legislation.
Crowell is leaving the Senate due to term limits, while Lembke's return will depend on whether he can defeat state Rep. Scott Sifton, D-Affton, in November. Nieves, Schaaf and Kraus are up for re-election in 2014.
While it's impossible to say how new people will adjust to the Missouri Senate, there are some early hints. Wallingford, for instance told the Southeast Missourian that he put an emphasis on working with the other party, while Cunningham and Sater were chairmen of generally low-profile committees when they were in the House. Cunningham recently served as chief of staff for Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa.
On the surface, though, Emery would seem to be an exception. He was endorsed by lawmakers - such as Lembke, Schaaf, Sens. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, and Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield - who have been known to clash with members of Senate leadership. And in addition to leading a group pushing to replace the state’s income tax with an expanded sales tax, Emery has also drawn attention for – among other things – his advocacy for school vouchers and his opposition to abortion rights.
Emery said in an interview that he hopes people feel like he’s bringing “a clear record and consistency in positions that makes my service pretty predictable.”
“One of the things I’ve noticed is when you get into a Republican primaries particularly in Missouri … you often see a contest where every candidate is trying to be the ‘most conservative,’” Emery said.
“I have never tried to be the most conservative. I try to be right. I try to be consistent. And I try to explain as clearly as I can to people what my positions are and why I hold to them.”
Notwithstanding his conservative bonafides, Dempsey noted that Emery was fair as the chairman of the House Utilities Committee. That sentiment was echoed by a potentially unlikely source: former state Rep. Gina Walsh, a Bellefontaine Neighbors Democrat who will likely enter the Missouri Senate next year.
Walsh said she was able to work well with Emery on the utilities committee, even though she disagreed with Emery on social issues such as whether to have sex education in public schools.
“But we were always on the same page pretty much with utilities or close – he was pretty reasonable,” Walsh said. “Ed’s a nice man. He feels as strongly about those values as I feel about mine.”
Emery said that he had "a great deal of respect for Gina," adding that they're "definitely able to discuss those issues with one another and learn from one another."
Whether the new and old senators are able to co-exist will become clear next year. And the result of competitive general elections in 1st, 3rd and 19th Senatorial districts will eventually provide clarity in who eventually fills out the rest of the chamber.
Walsh, though, is optimistic
“I think you’re going to have more people there who are going to be very selective and they’re going to know before they go in there what they’ll throw themselves on the swords for," she said. "And it won’t be for every issue. And that’s what going to be important. So hopefully, things would be as abrasive as they have been in the past."
Pearce crushes primary challenger
One of the other closely watched Republican primaries on Tuesday featured state Sen. David Pearce’s bid for a second term, even after being drawn into a Senate district with plenty of unfamiliar territory.
The Warrensburg senator squared off against state Rep. Mike McGhee – an Odessa Republican who sponsored the “right to pray” amendment that passed Tuesday by a large margin. McGhee was cast as a more conservative alternative, and Pearce saw his financial advantage evaporate when McGhee received big donations from a small circle of donors, including TAMKO president David Humphreys and the Missouri Club for Growth PAC. Humphreys also supported Emery’s successful bid, as well as state Sen. Brad Lager’s failed attempt to unseats Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.
In the end, Pearce prevailed decisively with well over 60 percent of the vote – even winning McGhee’s home base in Lafayette County. He is favored to win against Higginsville Democrat ElGene Ver Dught in November.
While the Washington Post this week took notice of how moderate senators in Kansas were routed by more conservative challengers, Pearce’s victory is perhaps antithetical of that trend. Pearce, for instance, handled legislation that extended state unemployment benefits, which was filibustered by a handful of conservative lawmakers.
While he ended up supporting legislation to expand charter schools throughout the state, he was a skeptic of changing teacher tenure regulations.
“I don’t necessarily subscribe to labels,” Pearce said. “But I do try to work with both sides of people on an issue. Try to keep open-minded. Try to keep dialogue going. And some people are little more partisan or maybe a little more [ideological and] maybe don’t share my same style of leadership.”
Dempsey said Pearce is likely to remain chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
It could be argued that Ver Dught is the first Democratic opponent in Pearce’s bids for the Missouri Senate. He beat back former state Rep. Rex Rector, R-Harrisonville, in a 2008 Republican primary, and then soundly defeated Chris Benjamin. Benjamin was chief of staff for former House Speaker Rod Jetton before deciding in 2008 to switch parties and run as a Democrat.
Campaign Trail, a weekly column, weaves together some of the intriguing threads from the world of Missouri politics.
