Politics & Government
Area Republican Caucus Spots Determined; Carnahan Will Battle Clay
Missouri Republicans voted in a non-binding primary in February, they'll use the caucuses to decide which candidates receive Missouri's presidential delegates.
Caucus locations update
A couple of weeks ago, . While, they will utilize the caucuses to decide which candidates receive presidential delegates.
Since that time, the Missouri Republican Party has announced on its website the dates and times for various caucuses around the St. Louis area. St. Louis County Republicans will be caucusing by township at 10 a.m. on March 17. Creve Coeur Township will caucus at
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St. Charles County will be holding its caucuses at 10 a.m. at . And as noted earlier, Jefferson County will be holding its caucuses at 10 a.m. March 17 at Hillsboro R-3 Intermediate School in Hillsboro.
Not all caucuses are being held on March 17. St. Louis City and Jackson County, for instance, are holding caucuses on March 24 to accommodate both areas’ St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
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Carnahan decides to run in the 1st Congressional District
The kickoff of Missouri’s biennial filing day is often littered with surprises. But this year’s iteration may have taken the cake.
Obviously, the biggest news is The St. Louis City Democrat had considered running in the GOP-leaning 2nd Congressional District, which now includes Creve Coeur after redistricting, but instead decided to enter into a race that will have him battling U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis City).
That race will be closely watched, since the district that encompasses all of St. Louis City and some of St. Louis County has a heavy Democratic lean. In essence, winning the Democratic primary is tantamount to election.
An auxiliary effect of Carnahan’s decision means there probably won’t be a major Democratic candidate running in the 2nd District. That’s the area where former Missouri Republican Chairwoman Ann Wagner and former Webster Groves Councilman Randy Jotte filed Tuesday to run.
Those two candidates – who had announced their intention to seek the seat long ago – will be joined by a pair of lesser-known candidates from St. Charles County. St. Peters residents John Morris and James O. Baker filed to run as Republicans in the district that encompasses St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Jefferson County.
Baker, by the way, got 17 percent in 2010 when he ran in a GOP primary against U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth Luetkemeyer – who didn’t have a Democratic opponent in 2010 after a narrow victory in 2008 – ended up racking up 83 percent of the vote in that primary.
That doesn’t mean that the winner of the 2nd District primary will run unopposed. Three Democrats – St. Louis resident Bill Haas, and Ballwin resident Marshall Works – signed up on the first day of filing. But a candidate without name recognition or a propensity to raise a lot of money could have trouble gaining traction in the GOP-leaning district.
Click here to see a list of candidates who have signed up so far for statewide office, the state legislature and the judiciary, including State Rep. Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) who is so far unopposed in a bid for the new district 88 seat. And for information’s sake, here are interactive maps of the new House and Senate districts.