This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: When this session of the Missouri General Assembly came to a close in May, Democratic lawmakers and their allies wasted little time
Take, for example, House Minority Leader Jake Hummel. The St. Louis Democrat sent out a statement lambasting the Republican majority鈥檚 鈥渟uper-extremist鈥� agenda, including , resolution called Agenda 21 and
鈥淭he Triple E agenda House Republicans delivered was extremism, extremism and extremism," Hummel said. "If you fear drones, the United Nations and working families with rights, then it was a great year. If you think creating jobs, improving public education and maintaining a stable and functioning state government are important, then not so much.鈥�
Left unsaid was that some of those bills were backed by a trio of House Democrats: state Reps. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, Ed Schieffer, D-Troy, and Steve Hodges, D-East Prairie.
Not only did the three lawmakers vote for and they were the only three House Democrats to support a tax cut that Gov. Jay Nixon called
The three lawmakers' votes are notable because Roorda and Schieffer are running for state Senate seats in highly competitive districts. At the time of the votes, Hodges was the Democratic nominee for the GOP-leaning 8th congressional district special election. He lost
Before he left Roorda said his votes this past session weren鈥檛 influenced by his looming state Senate bid against state Rep. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial.
鈥淚鈥檝e always sort of driven in the center lane,鈥� said Roorda, 鈥淚鈥檓 in a moderate district with moderate voters that don鈥檛 think we should driving on the shoulders 鈥� left or right. I think while there鈥檚 some bad stuff in all these bills, there鈥檚 some good stuff in them, too -- and stuff frankly that was hard to say 'no' to.鈥�
In a telephone interview, Schieffer gave a surprisingly frank appraisal of his decision-making this session.
鈥淚 will tell you this on all my votes this year and probably next year, and I want to be a little frank. Anyone that tells you that future elections do not play a factor in your voting probably isn鈥檛 being totally truthful with you,鈥� Schieffer said. 鈥淚鈥檓 telling you I believe that if you鈥檙e a realist and want to be elected, you have to consider your entire voting constituency base. And my entire voting constituency base for the 10th District is a very conservative base.鈥�
Schieffer announced his bid earlier this year for the 10th District Senate seat, State Rep. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, is widely expected to run for the seat as well.
While Schieffer said Lincoln County is fairly conservative, some parts of the 10th District are even more right-leaning. And he said he has to take his potential state Senate constituency into consideration when he votes in the House.
鈥淭here were a lot of negative issues that we voted on that I would consider fear factor issues,鈥� Schieffer said. 鈥淓verything from drones to gun bills to taking personal property away by the federal government 鈥� a lot of which is going back to the Agenda 21 and the United Nations taking over the United States. And I don鈥檛 really think that鈥檚 going to happen.
鈥淏ut the fear is there so much throughout the constituency, that on some of these issues that I hope never happen I have to vote on the safe side,鈥� he added.
Schieffer 鈥� who unsuccessfully ran for the state Senate in 2002 鈥� has cut a relatively conservative path during his House tenure. He was one of the loudest . And he was so adamant on overriding Nixon鈥檚 veto on contraception legislation last year
To some extent, Democrats emphasizing socially conservative view have had mixed success running for state Senate seats. While Democrats Wes Shoemyer and Frank Barnitz won high-profile contests in 2006, they were soundly defeated for re-election in 2010.
And last election, then-Reps. Terry Swinger, D-Caruthersville, and Joe Fallert, D-Ste. Genevieve, lost their state Seante races decisively after emphasizing conservative social views. Swinger even cut an advertisement that explicitly criticized abortion rights and gun control.
(Notably, the only Democrat who defeated an incumbent Republican senator last year 鈥� state Sen. Scott Sifton, D-Affton 鈥� He beat state Sen. Jim Lembke 鈥� a socially conservative Republican from Lemay 鈥� by a narrow margin.)
But Schieffer emphasized major differences with Riddle. He鈥檚 opposed to . And he supports expanding Medicaid under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans almost universally opposed this session.
鈥淚 totally support the Medicaid expansion plan,鈥� Schieffer said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檝e got some conservative voters that have really gone after me about that because they thought I was supporting Obamacare. I think there鈥檚 a distinction between Obamacare 鈥� which became law and a lot of my people don鈥檛 like it 鈥� and Medicaid expansion.鈥�
Tax cut dead in the water?
Schieffer's, Hodges' and Roorda鈥檚 support for the tax cut bill was especially notable since their votes could be crucial to override Nixon鈥檚 veto.
That bill ended up passing the House by a 103-51 margin, a tally that includes opposition from three Republicans. Since six Republican lawmakers didn鈥檛 vote on the bill, it would be possible to override the measure if the Democratic trio went along.
But Schieffer and Roorda say they are unlikely to override Nixon鈥檚 veto, especially after the governor publicized that the bill
鈥淚鈥檓 going to support the governor on this one,鈥� Schieffer said. 鈥淚 feel like knowing what I know now, it鈥檚 a bad deal.鈥�
Added Roorda: "If they come back, it certainly will give me pause to rethink the vote that I cast.鈥�
Asked why he decided to vote for the bill, Schieffer said, among other things, he thought tax relief might be justified if the state was experiencing enough economic growth. And Roorda said he voted for the bill because it included the 鈥渟treamlined鈥� sales tax, which
鈥淚t seemed like the only way it was going to happen was to give something to the folks who want to cut taxes for the wealthy,鈥� Roorda said. 鈥淭hat seems to be the tradeoff we have in post-trickle down politics. So we鈥檒l see."
"I think the challenge on an override vote is always larger in the Senate," he added. "One senator that wants to stand up and be counted on in an override can certainly do a lot more damage than one vote over in the House. A lot of times, folks snap into line for a veto override vote and become more partisan."
On the Trail, a weekly column, weaves together some of the intriguing threads from the world of Missouri politics.
