MISSOURI
     Nov. 8, 2016 U.S. Senate

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+Roy Blunt (R) i
1,378,458
49.19%
Jason Kander (D)
1,300,200
46.39%
Jonathan Dine (L)
67,738
2.42%
Jonathan McFarland (G)
30,743
1.10%
Fred Ryman (C)
25,407
0.91%
write-ins
95
 

2,802,641

Registered voters: 4,223,787.  Highest office turnout: 2,811,549.
Plurality: 78,258 votes (2.79 percentage points).

 MO Secretary of State



Notes: 
In a closely watched race, Sen. Roy Blunt (R), seeking a second term, defeated Secretary of State Jason Kander (D) by 2.79 percentage points.  Jonathan Dine (L), Jonathan McFarland (G) and  Fred Ryman (C) rounded out the field. 


The Aug. 2 primaries were not competitive.  Blunt obtained 72.6% of the vote against three challengers, while Kristi Nichols came in second at 20.2%.  Kander won 69.9% over three challengers led by Cori Bush at 13.3%.


On Sept. 30 all five candidates on the November ballot participated in
a debate hosted by the Missouri Press Association (>).

The Kander campaign ran one of the most talked about ads of the cycle, "Background Checks" (Sept. 2016), in which he assembled an AR-15 rifle blindfolded (>).

Having Clinton at the top of the ticket was not helpful to Kander.  The Blunt for Senate re-election campaign ran TV ads linking Kander to Clinton, charging, "On every major issue Clinton and Kander agree" and "If Hillary Clinton is president, Jason Kander will be a blank check for Clinton's liberal agenda (+)."  With the perception that Clinton was likely to win, there were voters who voted for the Blunt as a check to Clinton, likely hurting Kander's candidacy.  Another factor affecting electoral dynamics was the weak state of the Missouri Democratic Party.


The Center for Responsive Politics reported this was the eighth most expensive U.S. Senate race of the cycle; spending totaled $79.9 million, $29.0 million by the campaigns and $50.9 million by outside groups (+).  According to the FEC for 2015-16 the Blunt campaign reported disbursements of $14.1 million compared to $13.2 million for the Kander campaign (+). 

Campaign Managers
Roy Blunt:   Andy Blunt
Son of Roy Blunt.  Lobbyist;
founder (Jan. 2016) of Statehouse Strategies, LLC; founding partner (2002) of the law firm Schreimann, Rackers, Francka & Blunt, LLC.  This was the fourth Blunt campaign Andy Blunt has managed; he also did Roy Blunt's 2010 campaign for U.S. Senate and brother Matt Blunt's campaigns for governor (2004) and secretary of state (2000).  J.D. from University of Missuri in Columbia; B.S. degree from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.  Born in Springfield, MO.

Jason Kander:  Abe Rakov
(Jan. 2015)  Deputy Secretary of State and COS to Secretary Kander, Jan. 2013-Jan. 2015.  Campaign manager on Jason Kander for Secretary of State, April-Dec. 2012.  Communications director to U.S Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Nov. 2011-Mar. 2012.  Deputy director of communications and policy for Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Sept. 2009-Nov. 2011.  Associate at Angle and Associates, March-Sept. 2009.  Campaign manager for Elaine Nekritz for Illinois State Rep., Aug-Dec. 2008.  B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University, 2008.
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