JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Is the mayor a Democrat? How many Republicans are on the local school board? And is that one guy on city council actually a Libertarian?
In Missouri, where elections at the municipal and school district level are nonpartisan, candidates for office currently do not declare a political party. But that would change if legislation introduced in the state Legislature is signed into law.
A proposal by Rep. Bruce Sassmann, R-Bland, would require candidates in political subdivisions and special districts to declare a party affiliation, or nonaffiliation. A candidate's party, or lack of one, would appear on the ballot.
"If they (voters) don't have an opportunity to study every candidate, maybe they can get a glimpse of what the candidate's personal or political philosophy might be when they looked at the name on the ballot," he said.
"I just think that voters have a right to know if they're going to elect school board members or city council members who are maybe particularly conservative, or may be more liberal or progressive," Sassmann said.
The push follows statements by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican, who told St. Louis Public Radio in September he was weighing a plan requiring local candidates to choose a party.
"If we were to make some of those partisan, we're not trying to make them more combative, would that help more people to come out? Does calling them nonpartisan make people think they are not important?" Ashcroft asked.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said she opposes the idea because local elections have been getting "nastier" and more partisan than in the past.
"Things are becoming more and more partisan and I think Missourians, from what I've heard, want less partisanship not more," she said. "I don't see why we would change something that isn't broken."
County elections in Missouri are partisan, meaning county prosecutors, commissioners, clerks, sheriffs and other officials already pick a party.
At the St. Louis County Council, Republican Tim Fitch recently floated a plan to make council elections nonpartisan in Democratic-leaning St. Louis County.
Sen. Doug Beck, D-south St. Louis County, tweeted that he opposed that plan.
"You may have heard St. Louis County Council is considering nonpartisan elections," Beck said. "I don't know about you but I would like to know if a politician identifies with the party who tried to overthrow our duly elected government."
Fitch on Tuesday night dropped the legislation from the council's agenda, saying it needed significant revisions.
Beck, who previously served on the Affton School Board, said in an interview that he also disagreed with Sassmann's bill to make school board races partisan.
He said board members would start toeing party lines, making decisions not "based on what's best for the kids."
He said there would be "more money thrown into these races and it would become so political."
Beck said he was fine with city council members or aldermen declaring a party, but said such a decision should be made at the local level, such as when the city of St. Louis recently switched from partisan to nonpartisan elections.
"Schools are different; fire boards are different," Beck said. "I think those should be nonpartisan simply because of the nature of what they do. They're providing a service.
"If you politicize that, you change what they're about," he said. "The other ones are trying to govern and set policies for an entire region."
Melissa Randol, executive director of the Missouri School Boards Association, said the group does not support legislation to establish partisan elections for school boards.
"We (Missouri) have historically gone to great lengths to protect the governance of our children from partisan politics," Randol said. "Missourians have wanted our focus to be on children, not a partisan platform."
The Legislature won't start considering legislation until it convenes on Jan. 5.
The legislation is House Bill 1611.
