When Missouri lawmakers descend upon Jefferson City for next year's legislative session, Republicans will no longer have supermajorities in either the House or Senate.
Missouri Democrats flipped two Senate seats and 16 House seats on Tuesday. Those wins broke the Republican supermajorities, in which one party holds at least two-thirds of the chamber. Republicans have had a supermajority, which has for years given them much greater power over legislation, in both chambers since 2012. Republicans still hold the majority in the House 95 to 68 and in the Senate 22 to 12.
While Democrats won the two seats necessary in the Senate to break the supermajority, the party smashed through the three-seat requirement it needed in the House.
St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg spoke with outgoing Minority Caucus Chair Emily Weber, D-Kansas City, about what these wins mean for Missouri Democrats and state policy issues.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Sarah Kellogg: How does it feel to break through on the House side and flip 16 seats?
Emily Weber: It feels absolutely amazing. This is an extraordinary achievement where we played the game. We did the ground game. We raised the most money that we've ever raised. Democrats raised $6.1 million to compete, and we had 155 candidates.
Kellogg: Democrats had victories in St. Louis County, St. Charles County, the Springfield area, Cole County and Cass County. Is this surprising?
Weber: I would say this isn't completely surprising. I mean, we've seen change. Missouri is not a red state. We have a lot of pink, purple, 50-50 areas, and what we've been doing is placing candidates, really good candidates, and running the ground game. We door knock. We host events. We do town halls. We come into the areas and we have conversations with constituents. And what we're seeing now is constituents are angry and they want change, and that's how they voted.
Kellogg: Why did Missourians elect more Democrats this time around?
Weber: Constituents are frustrated. They're tired of what's happening in Jefferson City. They're tired of not being heard and having Jefferson City focus on issues that nobody is talking about and that's their whole focus for the entire session. And constituents wanted change, and that's what they did. They voted.
Kellogg: Missouri Democrats have been in range of breaking the supermajority for a little while. Two years ago it was seen as a possibility. Ultimately, it didn't happen. Why this year?
Weber: This year was different. I wouldn't say that this is a blue wave or anything like that. What I would say here in Missouri is we built this operation of winning. We recruited candidates, raised the money, invested in areas strategically and then knocked on nearly half a million doors. That's what we do to flip seats. We raise money, we invest, we knock doors, we talk to constituents and do a rinse and repeat. And that is exactly what happened. That's how we got 16 seats.
Kellogg: What does this mean for Missouri Democrats as a whole going forward?
Weber: We flipped two seats in the Senate and broke the supermajority in both chambers. This is something that's going to be amazing because we have leverage now. We can actually talk about the issues that people or that Missourians are talking about. We can actually do the change that needs to be focused on. Hopefully, we don't have to bring up the controversial issues every single time that don't go anywhere. But again, the other side likes to bring them up for sound bites.
Kellogg: Do you think this is going to change how Republicans govern, seeing the losses and maybe trying to approach things differently?
Weber: I'm not sure if that's actually what's going to happen, but I hope so. I hope that the other side sees that maybe we should get back to the issues that are affecting Missourians, on daily lives. Affordability is No. 1. Our health care is going to be a huge issue coming up, and then on top of that we have high gas prices. Utility rates are high. People are having issues just living daily lives, and we need to work on those solutions to help Missourians.
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