News flash: Kansas is still a deep-red state. Same for Missouri. No surprises there, right? Republicans have long dominated politics in both states — and a national red wave election like the one we saw on Tuesday only cemented conservative power on both sides of the border.
In Missouri, voters put Mike Kehoe in charge of state government and governor — and left MAGA stalwarts Sen. Josh Hawley and Attorney General Andrew Bailey in place. Over in Kansas, voters strengthened GOP supermajorities in the Kansas Legislature, and gave conservatives a majority on the Kansas State Board of Education.
We’re going to get a of Republican governance over the next two to six years, in other words. That’s what majorities of voters in both states want. Not what I would have chosen.
But that’s democracy. That’s how it works. Fair’s fair.
But the underlying thesis of my writing here the last few years remains true, I think: Kansas and Missouri are indeed conservative states that deserve their red reputations — but the electorate in each state is actually way more moderate than you’d guess from those reputations. Which means that Republicans in both Kansas and Missouri could easily overreach. And my guess is they probably will.
You don’t have to look far for evidence that regional voters are more moderate than the people they elect. Just check out Missouri, where the electorate chose to override Republican representatives in order to restore abortion protections and raise th.