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The dust has settled after the primary election, and now I will get some relief from all the blooming robocalls that filled my answering machine — or at least 60 days of relief before they start back up for the general election.
The upcoming election is so congested at the statewide level that I thought it might help set the stage with a recap of who’s running for which office on the ballot in November.
I’m going to start with governor and go right down the line, just so you will know what to watch for in the way of commercials and ads. As they say, this is going to be “just the facts, ma’am,” with no political commentary provided. That can come later
For governor in the Democratic corner we have incumbent Jay Nixon. Nixon is finishing his first term as Missouri governor after spending 16 years as Missouri attorney general. On the Republican side is Dave Spence, who is running for elected office for the first time. Since 1985 he has owned Alpha Packaging, which now has 800 employees. Both men are graduates from my alma mater, the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Moving onto lieutenant governor, we have incumbent Republican Peter Kinder, who has been in the office since 2004. Prior to serving as lieutenant governor Kinder was a Missouri state senator for 12 years, serving as president pro-tem for the last two years of that tenure. The Democratic challenger is Susan Montee, who was the state auditor for one term. After losing her re-election bid in 2010, she became chairwoman of the Missouri Democratic Party, stepping down last year in order to run for lieutenant governor.
Up next is secretary of state. Democratic incumbent Robin Carnahan did not seek re-election. The Republican hopeful is Rep. Shane Schoeller, the current speaker pro-tem of the Missouri House of Representatives. He is finishing his third term as the state representative from the 139th District, which is in the Springfield area. On the Democratic ticket will be Rep. Jason Kander from the 44th District, which is in the Kansas City area. He is completing his second term as a state representative.
In the state treasurer’s race is incumbent Democrat Clint Zweifel, who is completing his first term in this office. Prior to being elected state treasurer he represented the 78th District (St. Louis area) in the House for three terms. The Republican challenger will be Rep. Cole McNary, who is completing his second term in the Missouri House, representing the 86th District (also in the St. Louis area). Prior to his election to the House he was a teacher.
Rounding out the non-congressional statewide elections is attorney general. Current incumbent is Democrat Chris Koster, who is completing his first term as attorney general. Prior to holding the office he served one term as state senator from the Kansas City area. He was elected to the senate as a Republican, but switched political parties in 2007. Challenging him on the Republican ticket will be Ed Martin from the St. Louis area. Martin was a candidate for the 2nd Congressional seat in 2010, narrowly losing to incumbent Russ Carnahan. Prior to that, Martin was chief of staff for former Gov. Matt Blunt.
Now focusing on Washington, we come to the U.S. Senate race, which will have incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill facing off against Republican challenger Congressman Todd Akin. Sen. McCaskill is completing her first term as U.S. Senator. Prior to that she was Missouri state auditor for two terms and served in the Missouri House of Representatives. Akin has served in Congress since 2001 representing the St. Louis area. Prior to his election to Congress he served in the Missouri House of Representatives for 12 years.
I have run out of room to list the ballot initiatives, but I will make them the topic of another column. I hope this brief summary is useful to you. My purpose for writing this column is to give everybody a program that lists the players, kind of like a ball game.
Kevin Wilson is a former state representative. He lives in Neosho.
Opinion
Kevin Wilson, guest columnist: Statewide elections offer plenty of choices
- Opinion
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Your View: Food drive efforts
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