Sessions Winners

Governor Kehoe

Kehoe won almost every single policy battle he waged. From St. Louis police, taxes, and school choice money, Governor Kehoe is simply a winner. He walked the halls and built the relationships necessary to score big red republican victories. He would have passed his stadium bill if it weren’t for the screw up on HB19.

The Missouri FOP

Since the day local control passed the FOP has been working to take the City of St. Louis Police Department back under state control. It took more than fifteen years, and each year upping their game, making smart endorsements, smart hires, and backing the right horse in Kehoe and this year they scored the biggest win in the history of the FOP.

Senator Cindy O’Laughlin

Spent two years, four months and four days in leadership putting the senate back together after nearly a decade of disorder. She has already earned her place as one of the greatest senators of the post term limit era. However the use of the PQs might not age well as both will likely be on the ballot for the voters to decide in ‘26.

Senator Tony Luetkemeyer

You can’t praise Senator O’Laughlin without also paying attention to the success that the floor leader saw this session. Luetkemeyer’s attempts to keep the senate together with dinners and relationship building in January and February paid off in April and May. If Trump nominates him for the western judge appointment, he would be leaving with a very impressive Senate career.

House Speaker Jon Patterson

The first speaker from Kansas City since the civil war, his political future is brighter than anyone else’s in the legislature if he chooses to have one. Patterson saw a huge win with the passage of the VLT bill out of the House. The cards are all dealt in this special session for Patterson to be the hero. If he can keep the House Dems on his side, and get his caucus to fund enough projects around the state to bring the Senate Democrats on board he will not only go down as one of Kansas City’s finest political leaders, but will be hailed as a major Kansas City civic leader in the realm of Emanuel Cleaver for saving both the Royals and Chiefs.

Senator Mike Cierpiot

Senator Cierpiot had a major win early this session with the passage of his Energy bill, one which will make Missouri energy independent for the next generation.The end of session was also kind to Cierpiot as well as he was able to let off 10 years of angst over Missouri Right to Life on the last day of session.

Missouri Right to Life

Say what you want about Senator Cierpiot’s remarks on the Senate floor, but MRL saw a huge win this session with the passage of HJR 73 with the trans language included. While Democrats may scoff at the use of ballot candy, in reality this is just the Republicans using the Democrats ballot candy tactics this time for their Pro-Life cause.

Senator Lincoln Hough

Stop me if you have heard this before, the Senate Appropriations Chairman traded charter school funding in return for the Senate writing the majority of the state’s budget. Senator Hough also got his Missouri State University bill across the line as well as nearly eliminating the FRA’s sunset.

Jamey Murphy

The top new hire of any in House association. Coming from Senator Schroer’s office, Murphy has been a stellar hire for the Missouri Hospital Association. MHA could’ve had more victories with their top-level team adding a first round draft pick to the association, but instead they Vescovoed themselves. If you’re MHA you don’t get that many sessions where you have the top new lobbying hire, a very supportive Governor, and a doctor in the dais as Speaker. You wonder if their members let them Vescovo themselves next session too?

Senator Tracy McCreery

Senator McCreery’s finest hour this session came during the SB 4 debate when she worked with Senator Cierpiot to negotiate a compromise on the energy bill. Everyone associated with the deal has since then said that Senator McCreery helped to make that legislation better.

Senator Jason Bean

The bootheel’s Senator held the dais, and looked strong while doing so, during the most contentious and stressful point of the session. By all accounts he handled himself extremely well and treated the minority party with respect, throwing down during one of those silly protests in the chamber.

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune

While this year wasn’t the smoothest first year as leader she could have asked for, she ended the year with praise from her key colleagues, and possibly having the choppiest waters behind her. She will be an important one to watch in special session, as I’m not sure the Republicans still have 82 votes for the stadium package. It could be her time to shine.

Abortion Action Missouri

The thing that hurt MRL the most was winning. For a couple years there were no battles to fight, but with the passage of Amendment 3 they were able to fight and win, putting  HJR 73 on the ballot. Abortion Action Missouri could have seen the same after the passage of Amendment 3. Now Mallory will now have a fight on her hands next year that should keep her supporters engaged and fired up.

VLTs

The VLT folks scored a major win this year with their bill passing out of the House, with the help of Speaker Patterson. It still has some Senate issues, but after their success this year casinos and Torch might be worried enough to negotiate a little more. Further, if as many project, the state is looking at a shortfall next year, VLTs will look a lot better to legislators facing budget cuts for the first time in 15 years.

Representative Jim Murphy

Speaker Patterson could not have asked for a better chair of the fiscal oversight committee than Jim Murphy. Murphy handled a contentious committee spot well, and provided an immovable choke point for negotiating with the senate.

Andrew Bailey

The War Hero from Herman can’t seem to lose. This session provided win after win for Bailey as he was the only statewide office to see an increase in funding, saw wins on several major cases, saw the passage of SB 22, and more. Then a week after session he won a reinstatement of key parts of the abortion ban at the Supreme Court.  If you are betting on Missouri stocks, you should be all in on Andrew Bailey.

Missouri Farm Bureau

This year they scored a huge win with the passage of the Healthcare bill for rural Missourians. It took several sessions, but the team lead by Garrett Hawkins and flanked by the top flight crew at Clarkson/Nelson won a victory that few thought possible when Garrett first floated this idea only a few years ago.

Senator Nick Schroer

He could have came to the 2025 General Assembly to whine and lurch for attention or to get things done. Senator Schroer chose the latter and was one of the key elements of the four months and four days of making the Senate work again. Many predicted that his approach would set the tone for the session, and he brought his A game, and so did the senate.

Senator Brian Williams

Senator Williams looked like a statesman this year. Calm, cool, and collected, Senator Williams was often one of the few who kept his head, and scored big wins for St. Louis County in the appropriations process.

Senator Curtis Trent

Senator Trent is by far one of the smartest people in the legislature and has shown to be a skilled bill handler. This year he scored two big wins with the passage of the elimination of the capital gains tax as well as some tort reform. As we stated earlier this year, Senator Trent is someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman

Senator Coleman had her best session yet this year. She has played her hand well and made an impact on nearly every bill she engaged on. It’s a shame that this Senator Coleman is not running again.

Senator Brad Hudson

A rising star in the Senate and someone to watch in the future. Senator Hudson has done well handling the dais as well as handling himself with his colleagues. He also has one of the best chiefs of staff in the building in Daniel Seitz.

House Majority Leader Alex Riley

Riley saw his ascension to Speaker solidify this session as well as got some major priorities across the line like HJR 73, tax cuts, and school choice funding. He really only needed to not suffer a major mistake and he not only met that cautious standard he excelled on several fronts.

Representative Brad Christ

Many members serve 8 years and very rarely have a signature piece of legislation. Christ got his in year three with the state takeover of the St. Louis Police Department.

Senator Stephen Webber

Senator Webber had an outstanding first session which was capped by his attempt to secure $50 million for a new research reactor at Mizzou. Despite the House killing that funding, Webber has the chance to get the funding back with the coming of a special session.

Senator Kurtis Gregory

Senator Gregory left the House as an experienced deal maker and bill passer. He entered the Senate with an ability to get major legislation done and has managed to remain on good terms with all 33 of his colleagues. By the end of his time in the Senate, Gregory will have left his mark on multitudes of state statutes.

Senator Adam Schnelting

He knew the pro-life IP needed the trans language in order to put it in the best position to pass. He held firm in the face of several enticing deals and got his IP with his preferred language to the ballot.

Representative Betsy Fogle

Perhaps more than anyone she came out looking the best of anyone in the budget process. It seemed at times House Republican leadership was all in to make her look her best while launching her Senate campaign.

Senator Rick Brattin

His legislation reigning in how much judges can change ballot language is one piece of long overdue IP reform. Every Republican talks about IP reform this is the first piece of legislation I’ve ever seen that actually does something about it.

School Choice Advocates

They are on the threshold of everything they have wanted. In his State of the State Governor Kehoe said he was scrapping the school funding formula. Then he requested $50 million to be put into the ESA program that was previously a voluntary tax credit. However, most importantly he announced that in the ‘27 session he would be doing the full school choice agenda. They won another win this year, but the big win is coming.