Tagged: Election 2012

The Missouri House has given first-round approval to legislation that would require special elections to fill vacancies in statewide offices.

If passed, House Bill 110 would only allow the Governor to appoint a temporary placeholder who would not be eligible to run in the special election.  House Speaker Pro-tem Jason Smith (R, Salem), the bill’s sponsor, says it’s not a deliberate swipe at Democratic Governor Jay Nixon.

A Missouri House committee has overwhelmingly passed legislation that would require special elections to fill vacancies in statewide offices.

House Bill 110 would require special elections if the office of Lt. Governor or any other statewide office is suddenly vacated.  It would allow the Governor to only appoint a placeholder who would temporarily fill the office but not be eligible to run in the special election.  It’s sponsored by House Speaker Pro-tem Jason Smith (R, Salem).

Missouri’s presidential electors gathered at the State Capitol today and cast their ballots for Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, who lost last month to incumbent Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Despite the nationwide results, Missouri’s 10 electors were still committed to cast their ballots for the Romney/Ryan ticket.  State Representative Stanley Cox (R, Sedalia) was one of those 10.  He said it was a little interesting to cast an electoral ballot for someone he knows won’t be president.   

“I guess, you know, I made a moral commitment to a bunch of people back in June that I would do this, so it’s not hard to do," Cox said.  "I certainly think he’d have made a great president, although I know he’s not going to be president.”

Republican Missouri congressman Todd Akin owes almost $270,000 after his unsuccessful challenge of Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

A federal finance report available online Thursday shows Akin's committee spent about $6 million on his Senate campaign - less than a third of the $19.3 million spent by McCaskill.

Akin reported $268,830 of debt as of Nov. 26. McCaskill previously reported that she had $238,010 of debt as of that date. But it's often easer for winners than losers to raise money to pay off their campaign debts.