We've compiled a list of the key races and issues in the region with links to STLPR's reporting and other resources to help inform your vote. We’ll continue to expand this guide as we get closer to Election Day.
Key dates:
- First day of no-excuse absentee voting: Oct. 22
- Last day to vote absentee: Nov. 4
- Election Day: Nov. 5
Frequently asked questions:
Do I need a voter ID?
In Missouri, you need a valid, unexpired photo ID to vote. Acceptable photo identification includes:
- - Missouri driver’s license or state ID
- - U.S. passport
- - Military photo ID, including a veteran’s ID card
If your state-issued ID has expired since the November 2023 election, you can still use it to vote.
You can get a free photo ID at any Missouri Department of Revenue office or by calling 573-526-VOTE (8683).
If you don’t have the required ID when you’re at your polling location, you can fill out a provisional ballot. If you cast a provisional ballot, you will receive instructions on how to verify your vote was counted.
In Illinois, you don’t need to show identification to vote, but you must verify your signature. If you registered to vote by mail and did not submit any ID with the registration, you must show a form of ID to vote.
Acceptable forms include:
- - A current and valid photo ID
- - Utility bill
- - Bank statement
- - Government check
- - Paycheck
- - Residential lease
- - Student ID as well as mail addressed to voter's residence
How do I vote in person?
In-person and curbside voting across the St. Louis region runs from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Voters who are in line by 7 p.m. can still cast a ballot — so stay in line even if the polls close.
Your polling place is determined by where you live but may have changed since the last time you voted. Use these tools to locate your polling location in Missouri or Illinois.
How do I cast an absentee ballot?
In Missouri, voters can request absentee ballots by mail, fax or by e-mail up to six weeks before an election. To submit an application to vote absentee, voters must meet one of the absentee voting requirements to confirm that they are eligible to vote absentee.
In Illinois, any registered voter can request to get a ballot by mail. Fill out the mail ballot application and mail or return it in person to your local election authority.
How can I vote early?
In Missouri, voters can cast a no-excuse absentee ballot in person from Oct. 22 until 5 p.m. the night before the election at a location designated by their local election authority.
In Illinois, early voting is already underway until Election Day. To find an early voting location in your county, you can use the state’s early voting portal.
Key Missouri races
U.S. Senate
Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is facing a challenge for reelection from Democrat Lucas Kunce. The race is the most expensive, and arguably most contentious, contest of Missouri’s general election cycle. Also in the race is independent Jared Young and the Green Party’s Nathan Kline.
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Missouri 1st Congressional District
The 1st Congressional District includes all of St. Louis and much of north St. Louis County, including Maryland Heights, University City, Ferguson and Florissant.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Congresswoman Cori Bush during the August primary, capping off an expensive and contentious campaign that ended the two-term lawmaker’s tenure in the U.S. House. Since the district is heavily Democrat, Bell will be the overwhelming favorite to win in November.
Bell will face Republican Andrew Jones Jr., Better Party candidate Blake Ashby, Green Party candidate Don Fitz and Libertarian Party candidate Rochelle Riggins.
Missouri 2nd Congressional District
The 2nd Congressional District primarily consists of the suburbs south and west of St. Louis County, including Arnold, Town and Country, Wildwood, Chesterfield and Oakville. The district includes all of Franklin County and portions of St. Charles and Warren counties.
This race pits a veteran Republican, U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, against a longtime St. Louis media personality, Democrat Ray Hartmann. Other contenders include the Green Party’s Shelby Davis and Libertarian Brandon Daugherty.
Missouri 3rd Congressional District
The 3rd Congressional District includes parts of the St. Louis metropolitan area, such as St. Charles and Jefferson counties, as well as a major portion of mid-Missouri.
Since the district is heavily Republican, former state Sen. Bob Onder will be the overwhelming favorite to win in November. He’s facing Democrat Bethany Mann, Green Party candidate William Hastings and Libertarian Jordan Rowden.
Missouri 8th Congressional District
The 8th Congressional District stretches from the Bootheel to the southern St. Louis exurbs Festus and Hillsboro as well as the surrounding areas in the Lead Belt.
The district is considered to be the most Republican in the state. Incumbent GOP candidate Jason Smith will face Democrat Randi McCallian and Libertarian Jake Dawson.
Governor
The current governor, Mike Parson, a Republican, is leaving office after hitting term limits. Republican Mike Kehoe, Democrat Crystal Quade, Libertarian Bill Slantz and Green Party candidate Paul Lehmann will face off in the general election to replace him.
Lieutenant governor
Should the governor leave office, the lieutenant governor takes over the position — just as Mike Parson did in 2018 after then-Gov. Eric Greitens was forced to resign. The lieutenant governor also serves on several state boards and commissions, presides over the Senate and splits ties when necessary.
Missouri Rep. Richard Brown, a Democrat, is facing Republican Dave Wasinger, Green Party candidate Danielle Elliott and Libertarian Ken Iverson.
Attorney general
Republican Andrew Bailey is up for reelection as attorney general. He's facing Democrat Elad Gross and Libertarian Ryan Munro.
Secretary of state
According to the August SLU/YouGov poll, Republicans are leading in each of the statewide races. But the secretary of state race is among the most closely watched. That race is between Republican state Sen. Denny Hoskins and Democratic state Rep. Barbara Phifer.
- Secretary of state candidate Hoskins says Missouri should hand count ballots
- Rep. Barbara Phifer on why she should be Missouri’s next secretary of state
Treasurer
Vivek Malek, a Republican, is up for reelection as treasurer. He’ll contend with Democrat Mark Osmack and Libertarian John Hartwig.
- Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek lays out his case for full four-year term
- Democrat Mark Osmack makes his case for Missouri treasurer against incumbent Vivek Malek
Missouri ballot issues
Amendment 2
The initiative seeks to legalize sports betting comes after the such a measure failed in the state legislature in multiple sessions.
Amendment 2 has the backing of sports organizations in Missouri, including the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. If it passes, anyone 21 and older would be able to bet both online and in person at venues such as casinos and professional sports betting districts.
Betting on high school sports, youth events and collegiate athletes on Missouri teams would remain illegal.
Amendment 3
Currently, abortions are illegal in the state, except to save the life of the mother, with no exceptions for rape and incest. Amendment 3 would effectively legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability.
According to the initiative language, the amendment would also bar the government from interfering with a person’s “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” That includes prenatal care, postpartum care and birth control.
The amendment would allow the legislature to pass laws regulating abortion after fetal viability “provided that under no circumstances shall the Government deny, interfere with, delay or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
The amendment also has the following as its Fair Ballot Language, which will be presented near a sample ballot posted at each polling place:
“A “yes” vote establishes a constitutional right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid; removes Missouri's ban on abortion; allows regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient; requires the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and allows abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman.
A “no” vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri.
If passed, this measure may reduce local taxes while the impact to state taxes is unknown.”
Amendment 5
The Missouri Constitution currently only allows casinos on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Amendment 5 would add the Osage River to the list, effectively authorizing a casino on the Osage River at the Lake of the Ozarks. It is backed by the Osage River Gambling and Convention Committee.
The development would include a hotel, convention center, restaurants and other attractions. The concept was introduced after the Osage Nation announced plans to build a similar destination of its own at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Backers of Amendment 5 include Bally’s and RIS Inc., a developer in the Midwest. The campaign says the casino will support more than 700 new jobs in the area and would generate an estimated $2.1 million annually in admissions and other fee revenue. It would also generate an estimated annual gaming tax revenue of $14.3 million, with the proceeds going toward early childhood literacy programs.
Amendment 6
If passed, Amendment 6 would allow the state court system to impose costs and fees on court cases to help fund current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys salaries and benefits.
It would amend a portion of the state constitution addressing the administration of “justice without sale, denial or delay” by overturning a unanimous 2021 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that deemed unconstitutional a $3 fee charged on all court cases in the state to fund sheriffs’ retirement benefits.
Amendment 7
Amendment 7 seeks to prohibit ranked-choice voting in Missouri and to change the language around who can vote in Missouri elections. This amendment grants an exception to cities already using ranked-choice voting in nonpartisan municipal elections, which includes the City of St. Louis’ approval voting system.
With ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference. A candidate receiving a majority of the first-choice votes wins the election. However, if no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated.
Voters who chose this candidate as their top choice have their votes redistributed to their second-choice candidate. The process repeats until one candidate has earned a majority.
This amendment also would change the constitution to say that “only” U.S. citizens can vote in elections. Currently, it says that “all” U.S. citizens can vote.
Proposition A
Proposition A is the proposed statute change to raise the minimum wage in Missouri.
If passed, the minimum wage would increase to $13.75 an hour in 2025 and to $15 an hour in 2026.
The proposition also would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
Governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and educational institutions would not be subject to the minimum wage increase.
Electing judges
Every Missouri county will vote on judges this election, though the questions that voters are asked about their judges will vary.
In the vast majority of Missouri’s 115 counties, the judges who oversee trials are selected in partisan elections. That means voters can have multiple candidates to choose from for each division (the official term for an individual courtroom), though many of the general election races are not contested.
At every general election, some of those judges are up for retention. That means voters are asked if that specific judge should stay on the bench — they do not run against another candidate. It’s a judicial selection process known as the Missouri plan, or the nonpartisan court plan.
Reviews of individual judges can be found online.
Illinois
12th Congressional District
The 12th Congressional District covers a majority of southern Illinois, including parts of Belleville, Collinsville, O'Fallon and Shiloh in the Metro East.
GOP U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, will face Democratic candidate Brian Roberts.
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13th Congressional District
The 13th Congressional District GOP candidate Joshua Loyd will take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski. Loyd will be an underdog in the district, which stretches from Granite City to the Champaign-Urbana area. Illinois Democrats drew the district in 2022 to lean Democratic, and Budzinski has far more money on hand than her GOP opponents.
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15th Congressional District
The 15th Congressional District covers most of central Illinois and parts of the Metro East.
GOP U.S. Rep. Mary Miller is running unopposed in this race.
This guide includes reporting by the KC Media Collective.
Correction: A previous version of this story had outdated Fair Ballot Language for Missouri Amendment 3.
This story has been updated.
