West County Democrats

We hear a lot about Missouri Congressional District 2 primary races and about several of the local Missouri House races, Steidtmann in 101 and Webb in 100, for example.  But we hear precious little about Missouri Senate District 26 or your Missouri Senator, Republican Dave Schatz.

Missouri Senate District 26 seat is held by Dave Schatz, a millionaire trenching tycoon from Sullivan Missouri renowned for sponsoring and promoting legislation that is good for his business but not for Missourians and, when he doesn’t get his way, bullying local law enforcement agencies to comply with his wishes.  It is suspected that while receiving financial support from MIssouri’s own oligarchs, he is also receiving money from outside the state.

Fortunately, we have a very well informed and exceedingly committed Democratic challenger to King Schatz  in the person of John Kiehne.  Checkout johnkiehne.com for details about him and his campaign.  John switched over from the Congressional 3 contest to vie for MO Senate 26 just confirmed on April 28th.   His social media may not reflect this change just yet, but you’ll get a good idea of credentials and bona fides. 

Here is some info you probably are not aware of about MO Senate District 26.  It consists of Franklin County as well as Chesterfield, Ellisville, Eureka, Ballwin, Town and Country, Clarkson Valley and Wildwood.  The electorate is most dense around these far Western St. Louis County communities with some concentrated pockets of voters in Pacific, Washington, Union, and Sullivan. School districts included in the 26th include all of Parkway and Rockwood as well as those in Franklin County. 

In the previous two election cycles, an average of 58,000 votes were cast.  John estimates that about half of those were from the west St. Louis County communities and the remainder were cast in all of Franklin County.  John’s goal is simple:  get 29,001 votes at least in November.  In 2014, the Democratic Candidate garnered 13,808 votes without really mounting a concerted campaign.  This implies a solid base to start with for John to reach his estimated goal.  He’ll need to find or turn 15,000 plus votes to unseat the incumbent.  From an estimated pool of 165,000 registered and eligible voters in the 26th this, along with John’s credentials and commitment, with a concentrated campaign effort and with all of our help is doable. 

And here is a bit of welcome therapy for those of us burdened with sanity:  with John’s entrance in the race for the seat from MO Senate D26, all Senate districts in Missouri are challenged. 

Incidentally, if you aren’t sure if you are in the 26th, check here.  http://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/. Input your address and you’ll find out who your MO State Senator and House Rep are as well as the district numbers they represent. 

Submitted by Mark Kumming, WCD Member and Co-Chair of Chesterfield Township Democrats