The Republican supermajority in the Missouri House inched up this week with the election of Republican Mike Moon of Lawrence County to the vacant House District 157 seat from southwestern Missouri.  Moon defeated Democrat and former House Member Charlie "Doc" Dake in what Republican Speaker Tim Jones described as a hotly-contested race.

“Many of the topics and issues that we’ve been discussing throughout the first part of this session were debated in that race," Jones told reporters at the State Capitol Thursday.  "That race was a microcosm of many of the policies that we’re advancing and the issues we’re pushing, and I look at that as a race that is a reaffirmation of the Missouri House’s policy agenda.”

Meanwhile, Democrat Joshua Peters won an uncontested race for the state’s other vacant seat – House District 76 in St. Louis.  That brings the total number of Democrats in the Missouri House to 53, and Moon’s win gives Republicans 110 seats.

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