Governor states he will call a special election for the 95th district
Ever since the elected representative for Missouri’s 95th State House District in South St. Louis County resigned in January, the district has gone without a representative in the Missouri State Legislature. After citizens in the district repeatedly contacted Governor Kehoe’s office to ask him to call for a special election to fill the vacant seat over the past eight months, finally, the Governor has made an announcement that he will call for a special election to fill the district’s seat next year. While the Governor has not yet announced a specific election date, according to reporting at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it is likely that he will call the election in April of 2026.
In the Post-Dispatch article, the reporter notes Governor Kehoe said that, while the 95th District State House seat remains vacant, if constituents of the 95th District “need assistance on state-related issues,” they can contact staff at the 95th District office. But that is not the same as having representation in the State Legislature. Until an election takes place, the people of the 95th District have no voice in the state legislature and no one to propose laws, or vote yes or no on laws on 95th District’s behalf.
An important note: when the Governor calls a special election to fill a vacant seat in the Missouri State Legislature, there is no primary election. Instead, according to state law, each political party in the state calls a legislative district meeting where local elected party committeepeople work together to select a candidate to represent the party in the election. Once the party committee members have made their selections for party nominees, then the voters of the 95th District will get to vote and decide which of those nominees should be elected to take the vacant seat.
Keep watching this page for more updates about a potential special election for the 95th District. We will share the election date as soon as the Governor officially announces it.
