Government of the U.S. state 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.
[1]
However, the state has not voted Democratic since 1996.
[2]
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
[
edit
]
Constitution
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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.
[3]
[4]
[5]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
United States presidential election results for Missouri
[6]
Year
|
Republican
/
Whig
|
Democratic
|
Third party
|
No.
|
%
|
No.
|
%
|
No.
|
%
|
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%
|
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,
[7]
although only five Libertarians currently hold elected office in Missouri.
[
needs update
]
[
citation needed
]
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
[
edit
]
Missouri currently has 8
House districts
In the 118th Congress, 2 of Missouri's seats are held by Democrats and 6 are held by Republicans. There are as follows:
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
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]