Jason Kander has the hottest U.S. Senate race on November 8, according to Roll Call, which covers Capitol Hill. The 35-year-old U.S. Army combat veteran produced a campaign video where he assembled an assault rifle blindfolded, while talking about the Second Amendment – and the need for background checks for gun buyers. That shows the serious challenge he poses for incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, 66, even on Blunt’s home turf of conservative policy issues. As Blunt continues to cling to his unconscionable endorsement of Donald Trump for U.S. president while Trump craters in the wake of a 2005 tape where he brags about getting away with sexual assault because he is a “star,” Kander has a real chance of stealing an election from a man many consider to be one of the state’s most skilled and seasoned politicians – until Blunt hit some political headwinds. Some are beyond his control – he can’t rescind his support of Trump without roiling a substantial portion of the GOP’s base in Missouri, and he can’t renounce his several family members who are lobbyists in a political season when “Washington insiders” is a demonized category.
National Democrats sense a possible Democratic takeover of a Senate seat, leading to possible Democratic control of the Senate. Kander’s race is one of the most important to Democrats, who must pick up four Senate seats and the White House (with the vice president getting a vote in the Senate) to gain a majority. U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) stumped for Kander this week in Ferguson, where they met privately with local elected officials to discuss policy issues of concern to the African-American community, and in St. Louis, where they talked to Harris-Stowe State University students about addressing the student loan debt burden. Booker eloquently defined the crises of our cities and enthused over the boost Kander would bring to his efforts in the Senate to reform criminal justice and urban education. He cited Kander’s leadership in removing the “felon check” box from applications to work for the secretary of state’s office under his administration. “With a partner like Jason on legislation, we would be able to get some creative things done,” Booker said. It was a ringing endorsement for Kander, who grew up in Kansas City, to deliver on issues of concern to our community. We will add our ringing endorsement just as loudly – and emphasize, along with Booker, that it’s only an especially strong black voter turnout in this red state on November 8 that can elevate Kander to the Senate. We strongly endorse JASON KANDER FOR U.S. SENATE.
Chris Koster
Chris Koster may not be the Democratic candidate for Missouri governor of our dreams, but we do admire his resistance to blatant pandering as he steers a conservative campaign with the conviction that it’s his path to victory over Eric Greitens, a candidate with no political or policy experience to speak of. In the Republican primary, Greitens, a U.S. Navy SEALs combat veteran, talked of issuing “hunting licenses” to kill members of ISIS. Koster has decided you can’t fight Republicans over guns in Missouri and win, and he may be – tragically – correct about that. The Democrat believes it is politically expedient to take a “law and order” stance on Ferguson and was even rewarded by an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police.
What can our community expect from Koster that compels our vote for him? As a term-limited attorney general and former state senator, he knows state government far better than Greitens and justifies a vote for simple competence and experience. He has shown a depth of knowledge about the necessity of the states’ major urban centers to thrive to drive economic growth in Missouri. A former Republican, his reasons for switching to Democrat include support for abortion rights, stem-cell research, workers’ rights, a higher minimum wage and the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan, all of which align with our objectives. He also offered two campaign promises that would be major improvements in public policy: to expand Medicaid (extending needed health-care benefits to thousands and collecting on millions in federal funds that Missouri stupidly continues to leave on the table), and to fully fund the public education funding formula. Unlike Koster, we have not given up the fight to reform Missouri’s lethally lax gun laws, but we share many of his other policy positions. We endorse CHRIS KOSTER FOR MISSOURI GOVERNOR.
Wm. Lacy Clay
Wm. Lacy Clay faces only a nominal challenge in the November 8 general election, with a Republican opponent who got half of the votes in his primary that Maria Chappelle-Nadal got in the Democratic primary, when Clay beat Chappelle-Nadal by more than 30,000 votes. We believe Clay has a unique opportunity to lead in his next term, as winds of change in St. Louis politics are likely to motivate him to spend more time on the ground in his district and engage with a much wider circle of confidantes than he has felt the need to do up until now. Clay has always been a good vote and a great quote in the Congress. We encourage him to act on his potential to add to his efforts in Washington and exercise more dynamic and inclusive collaboration in St. Louis. We endorse WM. LACY CLAY FOR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE – DISTRICT 1.
Bill Otto
Bill Otto is a long shot to unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District. He ran unopposed in his primary, yet Wagner nearly doubled his vote total with an opponent drawing votes from her in the Republican primary. Wagner has withdrawn her support from Donald Trump, which is about the only good thing we can say for her. She opposes raising the minimum wage, favors privatizing Social Security, voted repeatedly to defund Planned Parenthood, and voted against renewing the Violence Against Women Act that protects women from domestic violence and sexual assault. Otto, on the other hand, is a solid liberal Democrat who would be an ally for Clay in Congress. We endorse BILL OTTO FOR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE – DISTRICT 2.
