On the heels of the election, both parties in Missouri have chosen their legislative leaders.
January 2025 will mark the start of a new term for the recently elected leaders. The Republican Party will hold a supermajority in both Missouri’s House of Representatives and Senate.
14th District state Rep. Ashley Aune, who is the current Democratic caucus whip, has been elected as floor leader for the minority caucus this upcoming term.
“I’d like to really work on building a unified Democratic caucus here in the House and making sure that, even in a year where the Democrats feel that the losses are great, Democrats across Missouri still feel like they have a voice in this caucus,” Aune said.
Democrats also selected state Sen. Doug Beck to serve as minority floor leader on the Senate side, and Sen. Steve Roberts as assistant minority floor leader.
Republicans selected Rep. Alex Riley as house majority leader, Rep. John Patterson as speaker, Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer as senate majority leader and Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin as president pro tem — the first woman to hold the job.
Aune said that a Trump presidency may embolden the majority party.
“I anticipate it being pretty rough next year. I think that they’re going to come at us with some pretty extreme ideas about abortion and public safety,” Aune said.
However, she is holding onto hope, as she says she has a “decent relationship" with Governor-elect Mike Kehoe.
“He is someone who I feel that I can call and have a conversation with, and I look forward to working with his office and with his administration to hopefully pass some commonsense legislation in this state that makes life a little bit easier for Missourians,” Aune said.
1st district state Sen. Doug Beck was recently elected as the Democratic minority leader for Missouri’s Senate. He says that being a part of the super minority is tough, but is hopeful nonetheless.
“I’m working with Sen. O’Laughlin, and she’s the new pro tem. Her and I have had a really good relationship we should be able to build that on trust and honesty which is what we’ve done that with,” Beck said.
Beck says that he looks at his new position not as one of power, but as one meant to serve.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunities where I can advance good causes for the people of Missouri,” Beck said.
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