As Missouri's state lawmakers campaign for election this fall, 'all politics is national'

JEFFERSON CITY — "All politics is local," goes the old adage popularized by former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill. But in this day and age, that slogan has largely gone by the wayside.

Many state lawmakers in Missouri have been campaigning for months, knocking doors, attending donor events and pitching their platforms to voters. They're back on the trail regularly again, after several weeks of travel to Jefferson City for a special legislative session on taxes. And when constituents talk with them, many will want to hear familiar names and issues.

"It's kind of turned into 'all politics is national,'" said Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, a Democrat from Independence, last week. "I would argue that a lot of people in the state of Missouri know Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden and Donald Trump and Mike Pence more than they know who some of the big players in their lives are down here."

As both voters and candidates increasingly take political cues from national party leaders and messages, the question for many office-seekers becomes: how do we weave popular national sentiments with local issues that will impact House districts representing around 37,000 Missourians each and Senate districts representing 174,000?

Party leaders in Jefferson City sketched out that midterm messaging as they prepared to depart the Capitol last week. The GOP, which has enjoyed sustained control of both chambers of the legislature in Missouri for two decades, is seeking to tie Democrats to rising prices, inflation and President Biden's spending agenda.

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"I think the conflict or the tension is pretty simple here," said Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican. "All of these are national conversations now. But, you know, Republicans are talking about inflation, they're talking about economic issues, they're talking about things that impact folks on an everyday basis.

"Those pocketbook issues, those inflationary issues, those are things that are mattering to people right now," he added.

Rowden referenced Biden and congressional Democrats' agenda that has involved significant government spending for climate, health care and science initiatives. But he also said Republicans in Jefferson City could "talk about our accomplishments today" — chiefly a new income tax cut, which is a popular policy among voters.

Inflation and "out-of-control spending" appear to be at the top of the pecking order for national Republicans, too, as they seek to take back control of both chambers of Congress that Democrats hold with razor-thin majorities.

Democrats, for their part, have far lower stakes in the Missouri statehouse than they do on Capitol Hill, currently limited to superminorities in both the Missouri House and Senate. But they're aiming to make up ground, primarily in the House, by pointing to what they believe is poor policy-making by the Republican supermajorities.

"We need to really focus on local issues that affect working families in the state of Missouri, and middle income families," Rizzo said. "We need to help them to understand that we are working hard to offset some bad ideas that come through Jefferson City."

In some races and districts, abortion could loom large — an issue that is at once local and national, as the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court triggered a full ban in Missouri. A key victory for abortion advocates directly to the west in Kansas has helped to flag it as a potentially motivating issue for Democrats in November.

The trickle down of national politics

National messaging in down-ballot races is not a new phenomenon, said Drury University political science professor Dan Ponder — congressional races began to adapt national party stances decades ago. While there's still "a heavy dose of local conditions" in state legislative races, he said, it tracks with the current U.S. political environment that they, too, would see that national messaging.

"Because so much is based on party and so much of the vote is driven by party identification, as we have become more polarized, one of the things that people still look for is messaging," Ponder said. "And that messaging has been focusing on if not national issues, at least a national brand."

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Political polarization and the nationalizing of races are two ideas that are "in lockstep," he said. When election season is over and it's once again time to govern in Jefferson City, the issues may change and shift to more state- and locally-focused, but the language will likely remain.

"That messaging, that signaling to the electorate, is important because you're sort of saying, 'hey, we're all on the same team here,'" Ponder said. "I'm talking your language when it comes to inflation, or the economy, or immigration ... whatever it is, you can trust me to govern in line with your preferences."

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 'All politics is national' for Missouri lawmakers during 2022 campaign