Love note from Jeff City

Greetings, My Fellow Missourians

I want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank all of the hard working election-pole workers that have served us all these last few days. They have done a wonderful job assisting us and counting votes. Some are still working across the country and will continue to until all votes are counted.

Strong Voter Surge Sustains Republican Majorities in General Assembly

Heading into Election Day, officials were predicting the largest voter turnout in decades with more than 3.2 million voters expected to cast ballots. While Missouri didn’t hit that mark, more than 3 million of Missouri’s 4.3 million registered voters cast ballots in the presidential election, which puts the unofficial voter participation rate at just over 70 percent. The number doesn’t eclipse Missouri’s previous high for voter participation rate, but it does surpass the record for total number of ballots, which was at 2.9 million ballots in the 2008 election.

The surge of voters came out strongly in support of Republicans throughout the state. Gov. Parson and the other Republican statewide officeholders all had decisive victories as they each won nearly 60 percent of the vote. Republicans will maintain strong supermajorities in both bodies when the 2021 legislative session begins.

The election in Missouri also saw a record number of absentee and mail-in ballots. In an effort to address concerns about the coronavirus, the House and Senate passed legislation earlier this year to give Missourians additional mail-in ballot options. The end result is that approximately 828,000 Missourians voted by absentee or mail-in ballot.

Missourians Approve “Cleaner Missouri” Ballot Initiative but Reject Term Limits

As Missourians headed to the polls they had two decisions to make regarding potential changes to the state constitution. When the final vote was counted, more than 51 percent of those who cast a ballot had voted in favor of Constitutional Amendment 3, which makes changes to the “Clean Missouri” amendment that was approved by voters in 2018. Voters were not as supportive of Constitutional Amendment 1, which instituted term limits for statewide officials, as it failed with only 48 percent of the vote.

With the approval of Amendment 3 by voters, Missouri will now have a ban on gifts from lobbyists to legislators and staff. The newly-approved amendment will also further reduce campaign contribution limits for legislators. Finally, it will change the redistricting process authorized in 2018 back to the previous system utilized by the state for decades that involves governor-appointed bipartisan citizen commissions.

In total, Amendment 3 received nearly 1,472,000 votes in support. That total is slightly higher than the 1,469,000 votes received in 2018 by the original amendment, which Amendment 3 modifies.

Interim hours: Now that Session is over for 2020, I will be back in District full time. If you need any assistance my Legislative Assistant Amy Helton will be happy to help you Monday-Thursday.

It is my honor to serve the constituents of District 125. If you ever have questions, concerns, or input, please feel free to contact me any time at (573) 751-4065.

YOUR District 125 Capitol office is 413B, and YOU are always welcome.

If you would like to be added to the e-mail list to receive our Capitol Reports, you may e-mail me at warren.love@house.mo.gov or call the Capitol office at (573) 751-4065 and speak with my Legislative Assistant.