Missouri Midterms 2018: Races To Watch

ST. LOUIS, MO — When voters go to the polls tomorrow (Tuesday, November 6 — write it down), they'll be faced with a long list of important decisions: a constitutional amendment to clean up state politics, three to legalize marijuana in one form or another, a proposition to boost the minimum age, and another to hike the gas tax. That's not to mention the big race at the top of the ticket for U.S. Senate, which could very well determine control of Congress next year, and a host of local issues like St. Louis County's Proposition Z that would raise the county-wide sales tax by one-eight of a percent to fund an expansion of the Saint Louis Zoo.

There's no shame in being a little confused. But not to worry, Patch is here to help. Here's a breakdown of the most important races in St. Louis and statewide this November.

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U.S. Senate

While there are 5 candidates on the ballot, including Libertarian Japeth Campbell, Green Party candidate Jo Crain and independent Craig O'Dear, it's those other two names that have been getting all the attention: Claire McCaskill and Josh Hawley.

McCaskill is currently Missouri's senior U.S. Senator and a Democrat. First elected in 2006, after stints as a prosecutor, state representative and state auditor, she is the first woman to be elected to the seat.

McCaskill is expected to have a tough reelection ahead of her this year, and hanging on to her seat will be key to Democratic hopes of retaking the Senate. In previous races, she has benefited from opponents willing to say outlandish and offensive things on tape. McCaskill's 2012 race drew national attention when her opponent, Todd Akin, said women couldn't get pregnant from what he termed a "legitimate rape."

McCaskill has called herself "authentically a moderate," and in her campaign has often tried to walk a fine line between her Democratic base and the state's rural, more conservative bent. At an appearance at a St. Louis coffee shop last month, according to the Associated Press, McCaskill defended voting for increased border security, said she didn't think NFL players kneeling during the national anthem is appropriate — "but I respect anybody's right to do it" — and put a damper on talk of a looming presidential impeachment.

She did, however, come out strongly against President Trump's recently-confirmed Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused to sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and other women.

"I have been thorough in examining Judge Kavanaugh's record," McCaskill explained in September. "And while the recent allegations against him are troubling and deserve a thorough and fair examination by the Senate Judiciary Committee, my decision is not based on those allegations but rather on his positions on several key issues, most importantly the avalanche of dark, anonymous money that is crushing our democracy."

Josh Hawley, Missouri's Republican attorney general, has taken a different approach in his run for office, embracing the president, whose approval ratings hover around 40 percent nationally but are 10 points higher in Missouri, according to the polling aggregation and analysis website FiveThirtyEight.

Hawley made a name for himself by investigating Missouri's previous Republican governor, Eric Greitens, for campaign finance and open records law violations after a woman accused the governor of taking a non-consensual, partially-naked photo and threatening to blackmail her with it. Greitens resigned unexpectedly in May, putting an end to most of the charges against him.

Hawley and conservative groups have attacked McCaskill for her support of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and her opposition to short-term health insurance plans. Conservatives have called those plans more affordable. McCaskill and many Democrats call them "junk."

Meanwhile, McCaskill has criticized an Obamacare lawsuit from Halwey that, if successful, could cut Medicare benefits for Missouri seniors and protections for pre-existing conditions.

MO-2

Lower on the ticket, Democrat Cort VanOstran is trying to defeat Republican incumbent Ann Wagner in the race for the Missouri 2nd. Polls have showed the two neck and neck for the suburban St. Louis district.

A former attorney and educator, according to his campaign website, VanOstran has based his campaign around health care, education, campaign finance and gun reform. He has called for protections for preexisting conditions and a public health approach to opioid addiction.

Wagner says she has made it her mission to "bring Missouri's values to Washington and push back against an out-of-control and intrusive federal government." Her campaign has emphasized protecting "the American people from ISIS and other radical Islamic terrorists in the Middle East," cutting taxes and federal spending, curbing illegal immigration and protecting the Second Amendment.

"As a lifelong Missouri resident, Ann understands what it means to fight for conservative family values," Wagner's campaign website reads. "Ann believes that all life is sacred and begins at conception. During her time in Congress, she has consistently led the way on pro-life issues and sought to give voice to the voiceless and protect the rights of all Missourians."

She has also sought to ban federal funding for Planned Parenthood and introduced a bill extending Constitutional Protections to the unborn from the moment of fertilization, which would not only outlaw abortion but many forms of birth control, experts say.

The Associated Press reports Wagner has not held any town halls during her three terms in Congress, and did not show up to a League of Women Voters candidate forum in October. A spokesperson for Wagner's campaign accused the group of being biased against Republicans.

Clean Missouri

Amendment 1 on November's ballot would reform how redistricting is done across the state, ban politicians from working as lobbyists for two years after leaving office and strengthen campaign finance laws. It has broad support from both Democrats and Republicans.

The ballot measure " would remove from the hands of Jefferson City politicians the power to redraw legislative districts and give it to a nonpartisan expert and a citizen commission,"according to the Post-Dispatch Editorial Board, which has endorsed the initiative. "Gerrymandering improperly entrenches not just the party in power but incumbents of both parties. The losers are the voters, who should be able to choose between real contests of ideas in every district, without district boundaries drawn to make it ridiculously difficult for a challenger to win."

Opponents of the measure say its redistricting changes could disenfranchise African American communities and some prominent black lawmakers, including state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, have come out against the measure. But St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones and others have penned op-eds in favor of the amendment's reforms, writing that legislative maps will still protect minority voting power.

The state chapter of the NAACP has endorsed Clean Missouri, while the St. Louis American's voter guide encourages readers to vote yes.

Medical Marijuana

Voters also have not one, not two, but three separate chances to legalize marijuana in some form on November's ballot. None would fully legalize the drug, but all would allow patients with chronic or terminal heath conditions to use and posses small amounts of it.

Amendment 2, supported by New Approach Missouri, is the most lenient of the proposed laws and would allow patients with any debilitating medical condition to use marijuana under a doctor's supervision. Which illnesses exactly qualify would be up to doctors.

"Doctors and patients should be in charge of medical decisions – not politicians and government bureaucrats," the group says.

The amendment would impose a 4 percent tax on marijuana sales in the state, with proceeds going to fund Missouri veterans programs. It is estimated to generate about $18 million annually for state programs and $6 million for local governments, and would allow some limited growing of marijuana at home.

Amendment 3, which New Approach Missouri opposes, would also legalize medical marijuana, but would impose a higher 15 percent tax on its sale. That money would be used to fund cancer research, and the tax is expected to generate about $66 million annually.

"Unlike our grassroots campaign, Amendment 3 is funded by a single wealthy backer, Springfield personal injury lawyer Brad Bradshaw," New Approach Missouri writes. "He’s spending millions to pass Amendment 3, which would put a 15 percent tax on medical marijuana — twice as high as any other medical marijuana tax rate nationwide. It would also place Bradshaw himself in charge of marijuana licensing and allow him to direct the taxpayer dollars — paid by patients — to a research board that he would appoint."

New Approach says the Missouri Department of Health would be in charge of administering their program if Amendment 2 amendment passes.

Bradshaw has sued to remove the competing measures from the ballot, but so far to no success.

Finally, Proposition C, would similarly remove prohibitions on small amounts of marijuana with a doctor's note, and impose a 2 percent tax that would fund veterans services, drug treatment and early childhood education programs. It would also give more control to local governments to license (or reject) marijuana dispensaries.

If passed, Prop C is expected to generate about $10 million a year.

If all the measures pass, the one with the largest number of "yes" votes will go into effect, so voters should feel free to vote for multiple options.

Minimum Wage

Proposition B would increase the state's minimum wage to $8.60 per hour, and an additional $0.85 every year until 2023, resulting in an overall boost to $12 an hour over the next five years. State and local government workers would be except from the increase.

The state's current minimum wage is $7.85 per hour, 60 cents higher than the federal minimum wage.

In 2017, St. Louis increased its minimum wage to $10 per hour (another increase to $11 an hour was slated for this year), effectively giving about 35,000 local workers a raise, according to the Post-Dispatch. But despite the law not applying to small businesses, the Republican-controlled state legislature overturned the local ordinance, taking those workers' raises away, and making it illegal for cities to set their minimum wages higher than the state's.

Conservatives called the wage hike "job-killing," while some workers called it "life-changing."

“This is a tremendous, life-changing raise,” 27-year-old nursing assistant Alexis Straughter told the Post-Dispatch last year. “The raise will mean that I won’t have to stress as hard about making ends meet. It means my kids can do extracurricular activities.”

In November, voters will have a chance to decide for themselves which of those outlooks they agree with.

Gas Tax

Proposition D would raise Missouri's gas tax by $0.10 over four years to fund road improvement projects. If passed, it is expected to raise about $288 million a year for the state and $123 million a year for local governments.

Missouri drivers currently pay $0.17 per gallon in tax. If Proposition D passes, that number would increase to $0.28 — a little more than a quarter — by 2022.

"This is a vote for freedom and for safety," Republican State Rep. Jean Evans said of the initiative she sponsored, according to the Kansas City Star. Proponents like Evans point to the state's crumbling roads and bridges. Others — Republicans and Democrats alike — have called the tax hike "deceptive," saying it would hurt low-income Missourians while disproportionately benefiting higher-income areas of the state.

St. Louis County Proposition Z

Meanwhile, voters in St. Louis county will be asked for a 0.125 percent sales tax hike to fund an expansion of the Saint Louis Zoo. Proposition Z would raise taxes about a penny for every $8 spent in St. Louis County and is expected to generate about $20 million per year. The money would help the Zoo build an off-site breeding center announced earlier this year.

The zoo raised more than $7 million dollars from two anonymous private donors to purchase the tract of land near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers in north St. Louis County. Provided the sales tax passes, city and county residents would enjoy free admission to the expansion. Others would have to pay — how much isn't yet clear.

The expansion is expected to take about five years to complete. But some critics have said the burden for funding the zoo falls disproportionately on city and county residents already. Taking into account hundreds of community improvement and special business districts, sales tax is already over 12 percent in some parts of the metro area, and residents have been asked for more than a dozen tax hikes and fee increases over the past decade.

According to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank, sales taxes disproportionately affect poor and working class Americans as well as communities of color, who may see up to a fifth of their income go to such taxes. Sales taxes further increase the divide between rich and poor and undercut economic growth, the study found.

But supporters, including County Executive Steve Stenger, say the zoo is well worth the cost. The Saint Louis Zoo is one of a handful of free zoos in the country and consistently ranks among the top zoos in the United States. In 2017, USA Today named it the best free attraction in America.

Here are some more pros and cons from St. Louis Public Radio.

Find Your Polling Place

Polls open at 6 a.m. and stay open until 7 p.m. on election day (Tuesday, November 6 — we said write it down). If you are in line at 7, no matter how long the line is, you must be allowed to vote, so remember to stay in line, even if it's past closing time. You can check your registration status or find your polling place here.

That's a lot of information to take in, but you've got this. Now take a deep breath, and go vote.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Rep. Ann Wagner and Cort VanOstran are competing for Missouri's 1st district. They are competing for the 2nd.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch