Emails show how Gov. Parson’s office sidesteps questions about Missouri House vacancies
A top official in Gov. Mike Parson’s office told colleagues that residents of a vacant Missouri House district would have new representation “soon enough” as candidates run for the seat in the 2022 election, even though the governor has the authority to call a special election to fill it.
Emails obtained by The Star show the Republican governor’s office in no rush to order special elections, even as three House seats now sit vacant. The emails, provided in response to a records request, illuminate how Parson officials have sidestepped questions from journalists about the open seats.
Despite past comments by Parson about the importance of moving quickly to fill openings, the vacancies are currently keeping approximately 111,000 Missourians from having full representation in the General Assembly.
Without a special election, the seats will be vacant until January 2023, when candidates elected in November are sworn in.
Once the legislative session begins next year, residents of those districts will be represented only by their state senator as lawmakers take crucial votes on spending, abortion, congressional redistricting and other issues.
“These seats need to be filled. The people deserve representation in their legislature,” Dave Roland, director of litigation at the Missouri Freedom Center, said.
The vacant seats include House District 34 in Lee’s Summit, last held by Republican Rick Roeber. Lawmakers expelled him from the House in April after his adult children accused him of abuse. Additionally, House District 65, in St. Charles County, remains empty following the October death of Republican Rep. Tom Hannegan.
Parson also created a vacancy earlier this month when he named Rep. Becky Ruth, a Festus Republican, as director of the Office of the Child Advocate. Ruth resigned from the legislature to take the job.
And on Monday, Rep. Aaron Griesheimer, a Washington Republican, announced he would resign as he takes a new job, creating a fourth vacancy when his resignation becomes effective in January.
Publicly, Parson’s office has said decisions haven’t been made about whether to call special elections. But privately, Kyle Aubuchon, the governor’s boards and commissions director, minimized concerns about the Ruth vacancy by noting in an email that the legislator would have termed out after the 2022 session.
“A decision has not been made yet regarding the call for a special election, nor a timeline for when a decision may be reached. The citizens of the 114th House District will still have representation from their state senator,” Aubuchon wrote in a Dec. 3 email to deputy communications director Stephanie Whitaker, legislative budget director Alex Tuttle and deputy legislative director Phillip Arnzen.
“As Becky was entering her final year in the House of Representatives, the district will have new representation soon enough as candidates come forward and file to succeed her as state representative,” Aubuchon wrote.
Aubuchon’s email was a draft response to a Festus-area reporter who had asked questions about Ruth’s appointment and the potential for a special election. In the email to Whitaker, Tuttle and Arnzen, Aubuchon suggested the final sentence, about Ruth entering her final year, would have to be edited or removed. Aubuchon didn’t explain why.
Whitaker soon replied with a modified version that struck out the last sentence. Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones quickly replied that the changes worked for her.
Separately, following questions from The Star’s editorial board in early December about the vacancy created by Roeber’s expulsion, Aubuchon suggested to other staffers that Parson’s office respond that despite the vacancy, citizens in the district were still represented by their state senator.
Aubuchon wrote that he thought Parson’s office had already answered The Star about the subject. Whitaker replied that she didn’t remember a previous request, but said that “if we’ve already provided this answer I recommend no comment.”
The editorial board, which has called for Parson to order an election, wrote it received “no response” after asking his office to explain the delay in calling a special election.
The tight-lipped response of Parson’s staff stands in sharp contrast to previous comments by the governor.
“It’s important that we work quickly to fill vacancies in the people’s house to ensure that Missourians have representation here in Jefferson City,” Parson said in a 2019 statement announcing special elections to fill two open House seats.
A Parson spokeswoman didn’t respond to questions on Monday.
‘Without delay’
Under Missouri law, Parson has the authority to call special elections to fill legislative vacancies. The law refers to the governor issuing a writ of election — essentially a formal command — to fill vacancies “without delay.”
Rep. Keri Ingle, a Lee’s Summit Democrat who represents a district adjacent to Roeber’s old district, said she had been serving some of his old constituents. Even before Roeber was expelled, some residents of his district didn’t feel comfortable reaching out to his office because of the allegations against him, she said.
“Representation is so important. And I try to fill in those gaps, but ultimately, they don’t vote for me,” Ingle said. “They need to be served by the person they have chosen.”
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, said any vacancy is problematic in terms of representing a community. But she described the situation in Roeber’s old district as particularly egregious.
Before Roeber, the seat was held by Rebecca Roeber, his wife. Rebecca Roeber died in July 2019 several months after a car crash. A special election wasn’t called and the seat stayed vacant until January 2021, when Rick Roeber took office.
“That district, off and on, for almost three years now … has been without representation fully,” Quade said.
House Republican leadership didn’t respond to questions Monday.
If Parson calls a special election, he could set any date. In practice, most coincide with regularly-scheduled elections.
Tammy Brown, co-director of the Jackson County Election Board, said a special election to fill the vacancy left by Roeber’s expulsion would need to be called by Jan. 25 to make it onto the April 5 ballot.
A standalone election would cost between $70,000 and $80,000, with the state picking up the tab, Brown said. Once an election is called, local party officials nominate candidates for the ballot, bypassing a traditional primary.
Individuals upset with past governors for foot-dragging have cited the “without delay” law to push for action. Ten Missouri residents filed a lawsuit against then-Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, in 2014 in an attempt to force him to call special elections to fill four legislative vacancies that existed at the time. Nixon ordered elections less than a month later.
“When I look at the provisions, I think that means the governor’s got an obligation to move quickly to allow the people to fill these seats and make sure they’ve got representation in the legislature,” said Roland, who was an attorney for plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Nixon.
Geoff Gerling, acting executive director of Jackson County Democrats, said the party isn’t considering litigation to force a special election in House District 34. He said he wasn’t aware of any constituents weighing a lawsuit, either.
“I would imagine it would go nowhere,” Gerling said.
Gerling said a number of people in the 34th district have contacted the governor’s office asking for a special election immediately following Roeber’s expulsion. They were basically given a non-response, he said.
Dave Lightner, chairman of Jackson County Republicans, said it’s Parson’s call to make and indicated he would support the governor’s decision. “Yes that is a vacant seat and it should be filled, but that’s his decision to call that special election,” Lightner said.
Politically, Parson’s inaction isn’t surprising, Gerling said. In 2020, Roeber won the district by a slim margin — 50.7% to 49.3%. Democrats would have a good chance of flipping the seat in a special election. Lightner said he was confident Republicans would continue to hold the seat.
“When he didn’t call for an election in the summer, we knew that he wasn’t going to call one at all,” Gerling said. “I will bet a heavy, heavy amount of Jack Stack barbecue that he will not call one for the April election.”
The Star’s Jeanne Kuang contributed reporting
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
