Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon had a rough end to 2014. He pretty much botched maintaining law and order in the wake of the Ferguson grand jury decision, which decided not to charge then-Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Stores were vandalized and looted, and people’s livelihoods were destroyed. All of this with a National Guard presence, though they were mere phantoms when the rioting began.
Nixon is term-limited. Sen. Claire McCaskill was considering tossing her hat into the gubernatorial ring. Well, she’s come to a decision; she’ll probably run for another term as a U.S. senator (via Politico):
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said Monday that she won’t run for governor in 2016, with the two-term Democrat instead positioning herself for a “very likely” reelection bid in 2018.McCaskill had been considering a gubernatorial campaign, and aides maintained she was deciding what office would give her the greatest impact on Missourians, as well as how her choice might affect her family. She said she made her decision over the holidays.
“I love the work, so at the end of the day, you’ve got to decide if the job you’re thinking about going for — is it a better job than the one you have and can you do more? And frankly, I am convinced I can’t,” McCaskill told KCUR-FM, a public radio station in Kansas City.
Pressed about whether her decision was final, she said, “I will not be running for governor in 2016. That’s a firm no.” She added that she’ll begin fundraising for her 2018 reelection in earnest this year.
She did endorse current Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who’s considering a run of his own.
The article added that McCaskill wishes to continue her work on combating sexual assault in the military.
McCaskill cruised to re-election in 2012 after Republican Todd Akin made some very unfortunate comments about rape and pregnancy. Yet, for a time in 2011, and parts of 2012, McCaskill was under fire for using her private plane in her travels, charging $76,000 to the taxpayers. To complicate matters, she didn’t pay personal property taxes on it, which amounted to $320,000 in penalties. The left-leaning Public Policy Polling survey from late May of 2012 had the race as a pure toss up until Akin opened his mouth.
For now, it seems as if the Democrats have their affairs in order for the 2016 and 2018 elections.