Will this Missouri Senate seat flip? Date set for special election in Clay County

Voters will go to the polls on June 5 to fill a Clay-County-based Missouri Senate seat in one of the few truly toss-up districts in the state.

Gov. Eric Greitens on Friday set the date of the special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant when Republican Ryan Silvey resigned to accept an appointment to the state’s Public Service Commission.

Republican and Democratic committees will choose their nominees by April 12. The Republican getting the most attention in the race is state Rep. Kevin Corlew of Kansas City. Two Democratic legislators have said they are running for the nomination — Mark Ellebracht of Liberty and Lauren Arthur of Kansas City.

Silvey, a Kansas City Republican, resigned shortly after the 2018 legislative session began in January. He served eight years in the Missouri House, including a stint as chairman of the powerful House budget committee, before being elected to the Senate in 2012.

He cruised to re-election in 2016, winning 61 percent of the vote. During his time in the Senate he developed a reputation as a political moderate, bucking his party by supporting labor unions and regularly clashing with Senate leaders and Greitens.

The race to replace Silvey promises to be both competitive and expensive, giving Democrats a rare opportunity to flip a seat in the Senate.

While the district leans slightly Democratic, Republicans will likely have a big advantage in terms of fundraising. A special election for a vacant state Senate seat in eastern Jackson County last November saw political action committees tied to Republicans pour money into the district to help fend off the Democratic candidate.

Mike Cierpiot — the victorious Republican candidate — and the groups that supported him spent nearly $800,000, more than 15 times what Democrat Hillary Shields spent.

This story was originally published February 17, 2018 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Will this Missouri Senate seat flip? Date set for special election in Clay County."