By AP/KWU
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Democrats say they hope to use their increased clout in the legislature to restore Medicaid cuts and offer tax breaks for college tuition.
The GOP still controls both sides of the state legislature by a comfortable margin. But Democrats gained five House seats and two Senate seats in Tuesday's election.
House Democrats on Thursday re-elected Representative Jeff Harris as Minority Leader, and Senate Democrats re-elected St. Louis Democrat Maida Coleman to be Minority Leader. Coleman faced a challenge from Sen. Chuck Graham, but he later dropped the challenge.
Harris says a few of the gains came in solid Republican territory, including the Bootheel and southwest Missouri: "By running good candidates and running candidates who were running in opposition to Governor Blunt's agenda, we made real strides and reclaimed those areas for Democrats."
This is the first net gain of Democratic house seats in Missouri in two decades.
Republicans this week re-elected Mike Gibbons as Senate president pro tem and Rod Jetton as House Speaker.