Missouri Democratic Party

Missouri Democratic Party
Chairperson Roy Temple
Headquarters Jefferson City, MO
Ideology Liberalism
Progressivism
Social liberalism
National affiliation Democratic Party
Colors Blue
Seats in the Upper House
7 / 34
Seats in the Lower House
45 / 163
Website
www.missouridemocrats.org

The Missouri Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Missouri. The party Chairman is Roy Temple, who has been chair since 2013. Temple was re-elected to another term as chair February 7, 2015.[1]

Harry Truman is, as of today, the only Democratic President from Missouri.

History

The Missouri Democratic Party politics were characterized by diverse cultural, economic and social issues which led to antagonism between two factions of the party at the end of the 1920s. The conflicts, mainly due to the dysfunctional relationship between Senator Jim Reed and president Woodrow Wilson, led to a disruption for the Missouri Democratic Party, degrading the party to minority status throughout most of the 1920s.

The dispute was over whether the US should join the League of Nations or not. Reed strongly opposed this while President Wilson was a strong supporter in favor of it. This question led to debate in many states but none was so affected as Missouri.[2] Mainly the dispute was over president Wilson's will to form a strong national leadership, while Reed wanted more state control.[3] Despite most Missourian Democrats favoring entrance to the organization, Reed remained firm in his stand which caused some state Democrats to create their own pro-League club called "The Missouri State Democratic Club"[4] Among the supporters for Reed were mainly Irish immigrants settled in the urban part of Missouri. The supporters for the President mainly resided in the more rural parts of the state.[5] Another big issue within Democratic politics was the prohibition issue.

In the state of Missouri, wet candidates tended to win office, although dry candidates were found both in the Democratic and the Republican party.[5] Republicans managed to agree to a higher degree than democrats on a wet stand, which might be one of the reasons why they managed to win all of the presidential and gubernatorial elections during the 1920s. The African-American part of the state population, who earlier had favored GOP, for the most part switched sides in the beginning of the 1930s. This was partly caused by the Democratic Party's 1928 backing of Joseph L. McLemore for Congress, making it the first-time ever nomination of an African-American for Congress.[6] Also contributing to the change was the Republicans inability to handle the Great Depression. During the phase-out of the party bosses, power moved from Kansas City to St. Louis which had been a Democratic city since 1933.[6]

The state of Missouri hasn't seen such high growth in population during the past decades as other states. This has led to a lesser political influence today than earlier; the state currently holds ten electoral votes. In the 2008 election Missouri held 11 votes having held 13 in the 1960 election and as much as 18 at the start of the 20th century.[7]

In the 2010 election the Missouri democratic party won three of the nine House of Representatives districts.[8] That is a loss of one seat comparing with the 2008 House of Representative election.[9] On a national level Missouri is known as a swing state. The voters of Missouri have been wrong three times in the presidential elections, favoring Adlai Stevenson over Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008, and Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in 2012.[10]

Harry S. Truman is probably the most influential person in the history of the Missouri Democratic Party. Truman played an important role in Missouri politics after the depression in 1929. He was one of the main beneficiares of the powerful Tom Pendergast organization. The backing of the organization helped Truman secure Missouri's senator seat in the 1932 election.[11] Truman later on, in 1944, got elected vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt. After Roosevelt's death Missouri got its first President when Truman remained in the seat even after the 1948 election, given a large support from his home state. Especially the African-American part of the population, appreciative of Roosevelt's New Deal and Truman's Fair Deal program, stayed loyal to the Democratic Party.

The Missouri Democrats take a social and liberal stand on economic and public policy issues.

Current Democratic officeholders

The Missouri Democratic Party holds four of the six statewide offices, one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and two of the state's eight U.S. House seats.

State

Federal

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Mannies, Jo (February 7, 2015). "Missouri Democrats Vote To Retain Roy Temple As Chairman". KWMU. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.16)"
  3. ↑ Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.17#"
  4. ↑ Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.24#"
  5. 1 2 Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.161#"
  6. 1 2 Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.163#"
  7. ↑ "http://www.statemaster.com/graph/gov_ele_vot-government-electoral-votes"
  8. ↑ Pear, Robert "The New York Times"
  9. ↑ Hernandez, Javier C. "The New York Times"
  10. ↑ "http://www.270towin.com/states/Missouri"
  11. ↑ Mitchell, Franklin D. Missouri Democracy - Missouri Democratic Politics, 1919-1932. University of Missouri, 1968 #p.164#"
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