Tangled Up In Blue: Dems down the ballot push against unbeatable odds

Photo by Barbara Shelly

About 20 people gathered on a Saturday morning in a strip mall storefront that operates as the office of the Platte County Democrats.

Some are fresh faces but most are core volunteers who understand that, in Missouri, the surest way to make a difference in politics is to bolster Democratic representation in the state legislature.

This is a concept that flies under the radar. It seems like half the people I know are scribbling notes on postcards urging voters in swing states to vote for Kamala Harris. Others are wondering if a donation to Lucas Kunce might somehow help Missouri oust Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.

I get it. Missouri’s Electoral College votes will go to Donald Trump, regardless of how many Democrats vote for Harris. National and statewide offices are also a tough sell, and frustrated Democrats are looking for ways to engage.

However, the swing states that will decide the presidential election are getting plenty of attention. Meanwhile, swing candidates at the state level are pleading for help.

If successful, they can continue to erode the Republican dominance of the Missouri legislature that has given us an abortion ban, dangerously lax gun laws, a continued attack on public schools, and copious amounts of other issues. But it’s hard to get people to pay attention.

In Platte County, state Rep. Jamie Johnson addresses the volunteers. Johnson—former program leader with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri—was an unexpected winner two years ago in House District 12, which includes Parkville and Riverside. She flipped her seat from Republican to Democrat and became the first Black legislator elected in Platte County.

Not surprisingly, Johnson’s success grates on the Missouri Republican Party.

“I am at the top of the Republicans’ target list,” Johnson says. Her opponent is Mike Jones—an Air Force veteran and political newcomer who owns a painting company.

A few of the volunteers whoop and clap as Johnson laughs. “I’ve never been so excited to be someone’s priority,” she says. “Because that means I am doing something right. I am pissing people off and I am absolutely fine with that.”

Ashley Aune—the Democrat who represents District 14 in Platte County—tells her small audience that outnumbered Democrats are just one good election away from cracking the Republican supermajority—the number of votes needed to overturn a governor’s veto and wield absolute control of a chamber.

That would mean holding on to all endangered House seats, including Johnson’s, and taking three additional seats from Republicans. In the Senate, Democrats need to pick up two seats.

Aune has won her seat in Platte County’s District 14 in two straight elections, but margins have been close. Before 2018, the seat was held by a Republican. This has resulted in relentless campaigning from Aune. She tells us she and her supporters have knocked on more than 22,000 doors so far this election cycle.

In Missouri, Democrats are outnumbered by Republicans 52 to 111 in the House and 10 to 24 in the Senate.

Although still bleak, Democratic numbers have ticked up over the past few election cycles. And the candidates who win have made the most of their representation in a legislature marked by Republican infighting.

We hear a lot about the national Democrats’ “blue wall”—the swing states whose votes are needed to hold the White House. In Missouri, the blue wall in 2024 was nine sleep-deprived Democrats in the state Senate, standing and talking for 50 hours straight in a filibuster that saved the state’s initiative petition process. Because of them, we get to vote on Nov. 5 to overturn the abortion ban.

One Door at a Time

What does it take to flip a legislative seat? A minimum of $100,000, candidates say. And good walking shoes.

In 2022, Kemp Strickler—recently retired from a job as senior data analytics manager at Hallmark—ran for House District 34 in Lee’s Summit. The district had been Republican turf since at least 2006, but redistricting had improved Democrats’ chances. Plus, the last occupant—Republican Rick Roeber—had been expelled from the House following credible charges that he had physically, emotionally, and sexually abused his own children.

Strickler and his wife, Kristy, started knocking on doors in April. They hit the streets nearly every day. His opponent J.C. Crossley—a retired HVAC business owner—was much less visible.

By the time the November election rolled around, Strickler, his wife, and volunteers had knocked on more than 15,000 doors.
Strickler won the election by 42 votes. That’s how hard it is to flip a seat.

Now, Strickler is currently locked in a rematch with Crossley.

Photo by Barbara Shelly

“There is nothing more important to a candidate than having people who are willing to knock doors for you,” he tells The Pitch.
Right behind that is help with phone banking and financial donations, of course.

Emily Weber is a legislator from Kansas City who chairs the Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee. She says the party “desperately” needs volunteers to help hold on to at least four seats and to flip five seats in the Kansas City area.

The action is not in the heart of Kansas City, where voter registration favors Democrats, but in Clay and Platte counties, as well as eastern Jackson County.

Democrats are also battling to save the state Senate seat in Independence that was held by John Rizzo the last eight years, and the Northland seat held by Lauren Arthur. Both are leaving because of term limits.

Robbie Sauls—a House member—is running for Rizzo’s seat. Maggie Nurrenbern—who represents a Northland House district—is seeking to move into Arthur’s seat.

“Good Luck with My Neighbors”

Fortified with donuts, volunteers at the Platte County Democrats headquarters pick up “turfs” with the addresses of voters who are believed to be undecided or leaning Democratic. They disperse to far-flung neighborhoods.

We followed Johnson, who teams up with Elisa Neilson—a friend and the regional coordinator for Elad Gross—the Democrat running for Missouri attorney general. Their destination is an upscale Parkville neighborhood, Thousand Oaks.

Earlier, Johnson had told us that enthusiasm among volunteers hasn’t yet seeped down to her campaign.

Voters are fired up about Kamala Harris, the constitutional amendment on Missouri’s ballot that could set aside the state’s abortion ban, and Crystal Quade—the Democratic woman running for governor.

Johnson is grateful for a loyal core group of volunteers. But, when she sends out text messages and emails asking others for help, “sometimes people show up, and sometimes they don’t,” she says.

She thinks there are several reasons why there is slimmer turnout. “We’re not flipping a seat now. We’re holding a seat, which is not quite as sexy,” she says.

Johnson also says, “I think the divisiveness of politics is making people fearful of talking to their neighbors.”

Johnson herself has no such qualms. She gazes at a Trump flag hanging from a porch. “I would love to talk to them,” she says. She enjoys conversing with people who aren’t like-minded to see if she can find some common ground.

But, the Trump house isn’t on her list. Instead, Johnson marches to another door and rings the bell. A man in his 40s answers the call.
Johnson introduces herself. “I’m your state representative,” she says.

The man says he considers himself an independent and that abortion rights are his front-and-center issue. “I vote for people who I can trust,” he says.

Johnson says that abortion rights are her top issue also, along with support for public schools. Neilson makes a pitch for Elad Gross and Crystal Quade and the constituent seems receptive.

“I just want to say that we do align on the abortion issue,” Johnson says as the conversation is wrapping up. “I would just encourage you to look all of the candidates up and see where else you might align with them.”

“Very good,” the man says. “And good luck with my neighbors.”

Johnson laughs and moves on. She thinks she may have gained a vote on that doorstep. But she knows she’ll need more than luck to keep her seat. There are so many doors to knock on and so little time.

To find out about volunteer opportunities, check out the candidates’ websites, the local county democratic committee, or the website for the Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee.