Government of Missouri

The government of the U.S. state of Missouri is organized into the state government and local government, including county government, and city and municipal government.

While the state was originally a part of the Democratic-dominated "Solid South," the state transitioned into a national bellwether at the start of the 20th century. Its position in the Midwest allowed for the state to become competitive for Republicans much earlier than many of its neighbors. After voting Republican twice in its entire history up to that point, it became a near-perfect bellwether and voted for the national winner all but once from 1904 to 2004. However, the state has not voted Democratic since 1996. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama became the first Democrat to ever win the presidency without winning the state. The state's rightward drift became apparent since, as in 2012, it voted for the losing candidate in consecutive elections for the first time since 1900. Republicans captured the state legislature and majority of House seats in the 2000s for the first time since the 1940s. Meanwhile, Democrats lost their last statewide office in the 2022 elections.

State government

Constitution

The fourth and last Constitution of Missouri, the state constitution, was adopted in 1945. It provides for three branches of government: The legislative, executive, and judicial.

Legislative branch

The legislative branch consists of the state legislature, which is the Missouri General Assembly; it is bicameral & comprises a 163-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and a 34-member Senate. Members of both houses are subject to term limits: Senators are limited to two four-year terms, and representatives to four two-year terms; a limit of 8 years for members of both houses. The state constitution provides that "The general assembly shall meet on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January following each general election. ..The general assembly shall reconvene on the first Wednesday after the first Monday of January after adjournment at midnight on May thirtieth of the preceding year." As a part-time legislature, compensation is low, and most senators and representatives hold jobs outside their legislative duties. State legislators are paid $31,351 per legislative year. The General Assembly meets at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

Executive branch

The executive branch is laid out in Article IV of the state constitution. It is headed by the governor of Missouri. The governor is charged with executing the laws of the state. The governor is elected a four-year term and can serve two terms and must be at least 30 years of age, a Missouri resident for at least 10 years, and a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years before holding office. He can also appoint members of the Cabinet of Missouri. There is also the Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, required to have the same qualifications as the governor, who is an ex officio president of the state Senate. The lieutenant governor is allowed to debate any and all questions before the Senate as a whole and may cast the deciding ballot in case of a tie. Additionally, the lieutenant governor assumes the office of governor in case of the governor's death, resignation, or incapacitation. Missouri voters also elect the heads of several executive departments: the Missouri Attorney General, Missouri Secretary of State, State Treasurer of Missouri, and the State Auditor of Missouri. The requirements for holding these offices are the same as those for the governor, but only the State Treasurer has term limits similar to the governor.

Judicial branch

The judicial branch (the state courts) is established by Article IV of the Missouri Constitution. The state supreme court is the Supreme Court of Missouri - it is the highest court. The Missouri Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court. It is split into three districts: Western (based in Kansas City), Eastern (based in St. Louis), and Southern (based in Springfield). The state trial courts of general jurisdiction are the 45 Missouri Circuit Courts and Associate Circuit Courts within each Circuit Court.

Seven judges sit on the Supreme Court of Missouri, which meets in the state capital, Jefferson City. Unlike the life tenure appointments of federal judges (including the Supreme Court of the United States), state supreme court judges hold the judicial bench for 12 years, as do judges of the Court of Appeals. Circuit Court judges have terms of six years and Associate Circuit Court judges have terms of four years. There are no term limits for judges, though there is a mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

Missouri pioneered a unique way of selecting judges for its state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals in an effort to remove some of the partisan politics from the selection process. Article V, Section 25(a) of the Missouri Constitution specifies a process, known as the Missouri Plan, to appoint judges to the state Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and circuit and probate courts in the independent City of St. Louis, Jackson County (Kansas City), and any other circuit court where a majority of voters choose to adopt nonpartisan appointment (currently St. Louis County, Clay County, (St Charles County, Missouri) and Platte County). When a position becomes available in one of the above courts, a nonpartisan judicial nominating commission reviews applications, interviews candidates, and submits three nominees to the Governor. The Governor then appoints one of the three nominees to fill the vacant position. Finally, in the first general election one year or more after the appointment, the judge must be retained by the voters in a retention election before serving a full term. Judges for all other courts are elected directly by the voters.

County and city government

Counties with more than 85,000 people may elect their own charters, smaller ones must use the standard charter dictated by the state.

Missouri allows cities to adopt their own charter should they chose to do so; it was the first state in the union to do so. Regardless of the freedom given to city governments, most municipalities choose to organize their local government around a mayor and a city council. Council members are typically elected in either citywide or district elections.

Political parties

United States presidential election results for Missouri

Year	Republican / Whig		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	1,739,041	58.54%	1,190,820	40.09%	40,711	1.37%
2020	1,718,736	56.71%	1,253,014	41.34%	58,998	1.95%
2016	1,594,511	56.38%	1,071,068	37.87%	162,687	5.75%
2012	1,482,440	53.64%	1,223,796	44.28%	57,453	2.08%
2008	1,445,814	49.36%	1,441,911	49.23%	41,386	1.41%
2004	1,455,713	53.30%	1,259,171	46.10%	16,480	0.60%
2000	1,189,924	50.42%	1,111,138	47.08%	58,830	2.49%
1996	890,016	41.24%	1,025,935	47.54%	242,114	11.22%
1992	811,159	33.92%	1,053,873	44.07%	526,533	22.02%
1988	1,084,953	51.83%	1,001,619	47.85%	6,656	0.32%
1984	1,274,188	60.02%	848,583	39.98%	0	0.00%
1980	1,074,181	51.16%	931,182	44.35%	94,461	4.50%
1976	927,443	47.47%	998,387	51.10%	27,770	1.42%
1972	1,154,058	62.29%	698,531	37.71%	0	0.00%
1968	811,932	44.87%	791,444	43.74%	206,126	11.39%
1964	653,535	35.95%	1,164,344	64.05%	0	0.00%
1960	962,221	49.74%	972,201	50.26%	0	0.00%
1956	914,289	49.89%	918,273	50.11%	0	0.00%
1952	959,429	50.71%	929,830	49.14%	2,803	0.15%
1948	655,039	41.49%	917,315	58.11%	6,274	0.40%
1944	761,524	48.43%	807,804	51.37%	3,146	0.20%
1940	871,009	47.50%	958,476	52.27%	4,244	0.23%
1936	697,891	38.16%	1,111,043	60.76%	19,701	1.08%
1932	564,713	35.08%	1,025,406	63.69%	19,775	1.23%
1928	834,080	55.58%	662,562	44.15%	4,079	0.27%
1924	648,486	49.58%	572,753	43.79%	86,719	6.63%
1920	727,162	54.56%	574,799	43.13%	30,839	2.31%
1916	369,339	46.94%	398,032	50.59%	19,398	2.47%
1912	207,821	29.75%	330,746	47.35%	159,999	22.90%
1908	347,203	48.50%	346,574	48.41%	22,150	3.09%
1904	321,449	49.93%	296,312	46.02%	26,100	4.05%
1900	314,092	45.94%	351,922	51.48%	17,642	2.58%
1896	304,940	45.25%	363,667	53.96%	5,299	0.79%
1892	227,646	42.03%	268,400	49.56%	45,537	8.41%
1888	236,252	45.31%	261,943	50.24%	23,165	4.44%
1884	203,081	46.02%	236,023	53.49%	2,164	0.49%
1880	153,647	38.67%	208,600	52.51%	35,042	8.82%
1876	145,027	41.36%	202,086	57.64%	3,497	1.00%
1872	119,196	43.65%	151,434	55.46%	2,429	0.89%
1868	86,860	56.96%	65,628	43.04%	0	0.00%
1864	72,750	69.72%	31,596	30.28%	0	0.00%
1860	17,028	10.28%	58,801	35.52%	89,734	54.20%
1856	0	0.00%	57,964	54.43%	48,522	45.57%
1852	29,984	43.58%	38,817	56.42%	0	0.00%
1848	32,671	44.91%	40,077	55.09%	0	0.00%
1844	31,200	43.02%	41,322	56.98%	0	0.00%
1840	22,954	43.37%	29,969	56.63%	0	0.00%
1836	7,337	40.02%	10,995	59.98%	0	0.00%

See also: Missouri § Former status as a political bellwether

Like the rest of the nation, the two dominant parties in Missouri are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party (whose state affiliates are the Missouri Democratic Party and the Missouri Republican Party, respectively). The state secretary of state also recognizes the Constitution Party and Libertarian Party as organized parties, although only five Libertarians currently hold elected office in Missouri.

The Democratic and Republican parties have been responsible for establishing the voting districts, casting votes in the Electoral College, and fielding candidates for the general elections, and helping to determine legislative policy and priorities.

Federal representation

Main article: Missouri's congressional districts

Missouri currently has eight House districts. In the 118th Congress, two of Missouri's seats are held by Democrats and six are held by Republicans:

• Missouri's 1st congressional district represented by Cori Bush (D)
• Missouri's 2nd congressional district represented by Ann Wagner (R)
• Missouri's 3rd congressional district represented by Blaine Luetkemeyer (R)
• Missouri's 4th congressional district represented by Mark Alford (R)
• Missouri's 5th congressional district represented by Emanuel Cleaver (D)
• Missouri's 6th congressional district represented by Sam Graves (R)
• Missouri's 7th congressional district represented by Eric Burlison (R)
• Missouri's 8th congressional district represented by Jason Smith (R)

Missouri's two United States senators are Republicans Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, serving since 2019 and 2023, respectively.

Missouri is part of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the St. Louis-based United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

See also

• Alcohol laws of Missouri
• Constitution of Missouri
• Missouri Sunshine Law

External links

• Missouri government official web site