Jean Peters Baker

Citing her responsibilities as Jackson County prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker is stepping away from her duties as Missouri Democratic Party chairwoman and turning over control to former state Rep. Clem Smith.

In a statement released Thursday evening, Baker said Smith, vice chairman of the party, “is the right person to lead our party at this critical moment.”

Berkeley Mayor Theodore "Ted" Hoskins has been charged with five felony counts of election fraud.

A special prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker, announced charges Thursday that allege Hoskins tampered with absentee ballots for a municipal election in April 2018. 

He is accused of filling out absentee ballot applications for voters and having his campaign workers do the same. He is also accused of altering absentee ballots. Hoskins faces 25 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines if convicted. 

State Auditor Nicole Galloway officially launched her 2020 gubernatorial bid on Monday morning, emphasizing her record as Missouri’s lone Democratic statewide official and criticizing how a GOP-controlled government has operated.

While Galloway will likely have little competition capturing the Democratic nomination for governor, in the general election, she will be dealing with an electorate that leans toward the GOP and the incumbent's financial advantage.

State Rep. Clem Smith was willing to step away from Missouri politics after being barred from running again for the House due to term limits.

In one of his final speeches, Smith said he was “going to ride out into the sunset like Shane and get an AARP card so I can get discounts at Best Western or something.” But the four-term state lawmaker from St. Louis County kept getting encouragement to stay involved, which is one of the reasons he ran for and won the vice chairmanship of the Missouri Democratic Party last weekend.

Updated 4:45 p.m., Saturday, with election results — Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker is the new head of the Missouri Democratic Party, and outgoing state Rep. Clem Smith of St. Louis County is the new vice chairman.

Democratic activists hope that the duo — elected Saturday by party leaders gathered in Jefferson City — can help reorganize and revamp the party's image, operations and message. 

To say Missouri Democrats fared poorly in the November election is an understatement. Even as national Democrats saw huge gains, Missouri Democrats largely got wiped out – for the second time in two years. The biggest loss was the defeat of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in her bid for a third term.

Missouri’s results came in spite of outgoing chairman Stephen Webber recruiting more candidates than state Democrats have seen in years, and campaigning hard for them.

Updated at 5:15 p.m. June 8 with comments from Jean Peters Baker — A special prosecutor has decided not to charge former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens in connection with an affair he had before he became governor.

An attorney for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens believes a special prosecutor won’t end up charging the GOP chief executive with any crimes.

This comes as Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has latitude to look beyond whether Greitens took a semi-nude photo of a woman he had an affair with, without her consent.

The woman at the center of a scandal that has rocked Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has spoken out publicly for the first time, saying she’s been dragged into a fight she didn’t want.

“I wasn’t out to get anyone,” the woman told 5 on your Side TV in an exclusive interview aired at 10 p.m. Monday. “I was really just trying to live my life.”

When Amendment 5 was put before voters last August, 602,863 Missourians cast their ballots in favor of a measure aimed at bolstering the Show Me State’s gun rights.

It’s safe to say St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce was not among those voters.