The seemingly minor race for the 94th District Missouri House of Representatives has been widely viewed in the region (and perhaps nationally) as a referendum on the first year of Matt Blunt's term as governer. Mr. Blunt has been mentioned as a possible Republican Presidential candidate in 2016/2020.
The Republican candidate for the 94th was Moria Byrd, the wife of the late Richard Byrd whose untimely and tragic death precipitated the special election.
The 94th, located primarily in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, is a typical Missouri purple district. Starting from a position of sympathy, Ms. Byrd was expected to do well and capture the seat.
Unfortunately, either Ms. Byrd or Republican strategists chose to run a very aggressive, dirty, Karl Rove style campaign. This author actually received a Republican push-poll about 10 weeks prior to the election which was quite brazen in attempting to link the Democratic candidate to extreme left-wing positions. Personal observation indicates that this strategy backfired, causing some community members to stay out of the campaign and Democratic-leaners to come down strongly on the side of the challenger, Jane Bogetto. Ms. Byrd's refusal to debate was also not well-received in the community.
Preliminary results indicate that the Democratic candidate, Jane Bogetto, is the winner with a margin of 57-43. This is the first time in 58 years that a Democrat has been returned from the 94th District and if confirmed can be considered a landslide. This result cannot be good news for Mr. Blunt, and should also hearten Claire McCaskall in her run for the US Senate in 2006.
Ms. Bogetto is reported to have accumulated $15,000 in personal debt during the campaign, so contributions may not be unwarranted for Democratic partisans.
[Updated to fix date of Senate race and tags]
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