Missouri Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay
Rep. Lacy Clay has never had much of a problem securing renomination in his safely blue St. Louis-area seat, with him easily defeating Russ Carnahan after the two congressmen were drawn into the same district in 2012. But in mid-August, state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal
refused to rule out challenging Clay in the Democratic primary.
Chappelle-Nadal specifically cited Clay's response to the death of Michael Brown and the ensuring protests in Ferguson as the reason she may take on Clay. Chappelle-Nadal, who like Clay represents Ferguson, accused Clay of being invisible during last fall's unrest, arguing that "[e]verybody says, ‘Where has he been?’ Every constituent that I have encountered, when his name comes up unprovoked, that is what they say." By contrast, Chappelle-Nadal was hit with tear gas while taking part in a protest.
Most of Chappelle-Nadal's seat is in MO-01, so she'd start out with some good name recognition. And while a white candidate like Carnahan had a tough time appealing to the heavily black primary electorate, an African American like Chappelle-Nadal would not have that issue. Clay also has only $334,000 on hand, not a big head start. But Clay is well-connected, and he won't be easy for Chappelle-Nadal or anyone else to beat.