Elections

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft threatened to unilaterally kick President Joe Biden off of the Missouri ballot if Donald Trump is disqualified in other states for violating the U.S. Constitution insurrection clause. But an appeals court ruling found Missouri law did not give the secretary of state that power.

Primary meddling, dark money and self-funding loopholes help skew Illinois politics to favor moneyed candidates. But there are also solutions — like fighting big money with public funding of campaigns.

The Shrewsbury lawmaker recently bowed out of the Missouri attorney general’s race after being stripped of her committee assignments and later kicked out of the House Democratic caucus.

Can the group that’s critical of GOP state legislative leadership be effective?

The pledge, a vestige of the McCarthy Red Scare era, is not mandatory for candidates in Illinois. Despite that, it has been signed by candidates for decades — including Trump in 2016 and 2020.

The GOP official was appointed to his post in 2022 and is seeking a full four-year term this year.

A group of Illinois voters filed a joint objection to Trump’s candidacy, arguing that the former president should be disqualified under the Constitution's 14th Amendment. It prohibits anyone who took part in an insurrection against the United States from holding federal office.

In Missouri, the state’s Children’s Division is responsible for investigating abuse and neglect claims made through the state’s hotline.

Expanding child care access and making it harder to amend Missouri’s constitution through ballot initiatives are among the priorities for the Republican-led legislature.

Kim Gardner saga tops the list of the year’s biggest political news in the St. Louis region.