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Bill Otto (Missouri)

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Bill Otto
Democratic Party
Prior offices:
Missouri House of Representatives District 70
Years in office: 2013 - 2017
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 3, 2020
Military
Service / branch
U.S. Navy
Years of service
1976 - 1983
Personal
Birthplace
St. Louis, MO
Religion
United Methodist
Profession
Air traffic controller
Contact
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Campaign X
Personal Facebook

Bill Otto (Democratic Party) was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, representing District 70. He assumed office on January 9, 2013. He left office in 2017.

Otto (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Missouri House of Representatives to represent District 65. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Otto completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Otto is a former Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives, representing District 70 from 2013 to 2017. He did not seek re-election to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2016. Instead, Otto sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 2nd Congressional District of Missouri.[1]

Biography

Otto was born on January 1, 1956, in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended classes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and has worked as a air traffic controller. Otto also served in the United States Navy from 1976 to 1983.[2]

Committee assignments

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Otto served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Otto served on the following committees:

Missouri committee assignments, 2013
• Appropriations - Public Safety and Corrections
• Economic Development
• Emerging Issues in Agriculture
• Ethics
• Tourism and Natural Resources
• Veterans

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2020

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 65

Incumbent Tom Hannegan defeated Bill Otto in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 65 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Hannegan
Tom Hannegan (R)
 
54.1
 
10,779
Image of Bill Otto
Bill Otto (D) Candidate Connection
 
45.9
 
9,159

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 19,938
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65

Bill Otto advanced from the Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bill Otto
Bill Otto Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
3,090

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,090
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65

Incumbent Tom Hannegan advanced from the Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Hannegan
Tom Hannegan
 
100.0
 
3,665

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,665
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 65

Incumbent Tom Hannegan defeated Bill Otto in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 65 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Hannegan
Tom Hannegan (R)
 
51.0
 
8,288
Image of Bill Otto
Bill Otto (D)
 
49.0
 
7,973

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 16,261
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65

Bill Otto advanced from the Democratic primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bill Otto
Bill Otto
 
100.0
 
3,988

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,988
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65

Incumbent Tom Hannegan advanced from the Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 65 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Hannegan
Tom Hannegan
 
100.0
 
4,018

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,018
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Missouri's 2nd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Ann Wagner (R) defeated Bill Otto (D), Jim Higgins (L), and David Justus Arnold (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Wagner defeated Greg Sears in the Republican primary on August 2, 2016. Wagner won re-election in the November 8 election.[3][4][5]

U.S. House, Missouri District 2 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngAnn Wagner Incumbent 58.5% 241,954
     Democratic Bill Otto 37.7% 155,689
     Libertarian Jim Higgins 2.8% 11,758
     Green David Arnold 0.9% 3,895
Total Votes 413,296
Source: Missouri Secretary of State


U.S. House, Missouri District 2 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngAnn Wagner Incumbent 82.6% 77,084
Greg Sears 17.4% 16,263
Total Votes 93,347
Source: Missouri Secretary of State

2014

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Missouri House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 25, 2014. Incumbent Bill Otto was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Joe Corica was unopposed in the Republican primary. Otto faced Corica in the general election.[6][7] Otto defeated Corica, and was re-elected to another term.[8]

Missouri House of Representatives District 70, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBill Otto Incumbent 50.7% 5,309
     Republican Joe Corica 49.3% 5,155
Total Votes 10,464

2012

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2012

Otto won election in the 2012 election for Missouri House of Representatives, District 70. Otto ran unopposed in the August 7 Democratic primary and defeated Eugene Dokes (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[9][10]

Missouri House of Representatives, District 70, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBill Otto 52% 9,254
     Republican Eugene Dokes 48% 8,537
Total Votes 17,791

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Bill Otto completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Otto's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Bill Otto is a retired air traffic controller with a strong record of public and community service. Bill has been a Boy Scout leader, a Bible School teacher at Arlington Methodist Church, a youth coach at St. Lawrence Catholic Church and a house father in a boys home. He has served as a City Council member in Bridgeton, then as a Representative to the Missouri State Legislature (District 70) for a diverse area that includes portions of St. Louis and St. Charles counties since elected in 2012.

Bill was born on New Year's Day in 1956. He has overcome many personal challenges, beginning at age 15 when his mother died and he was sent to a boys home. Bill was provided food and shelter until he was 17, when state law forced him to leave. He was put out on the streets - homeless at 17.

Bill overcame these challenges with the help of teachers and mentors and went on to receive his GED, go to college and join the U.S. Navy. Bill especially credits the help he received from his teachers who helped guide him as a young man and the inspiring Navy officers who taught him how to be successful.

In 1983, he received an honorable discharge from the United States Navy.

He and his wife Kathy have been married for over 25 years and raised three sons and three daughters in Bridgeton.
  • Bill is fiercely supportive of the Labor organizations who represent so many workers in his District. He is committed to fight the continuous attack on Labor in Jefferson City.
  • Bill will work to ensure that Medicaid Expansion that passed statewide in August. Republicans in the legislature have vowed to block expansion through the budget process.
  • Public education financing is always first on the block to be cut when money is tight. Bill feels that education funding should have priority in the budget process
Bill found himself homeless after his mother died at 15. After sometime in a boys home in Brentwood Missouri Bill was emancipated by the juvenile court system and was put on the streets when he turned 17, which still remains the law to this day. Although programs have been developed to address these issues, the legal age for a minor remains at 17. Bill is committed to set the legal for juveniles at 18 which is the norm for most states.

Our counties have enacted drug monitoring programs, this needs to be passed at the state level to be effective and to reflect the the rest of the country which have overwhelmingly passed this law.

Additionally, medical marijuana was decidedly passed by the voters in 2018, This program has been negatively effected by special interests and the poor response of our state officials.
Honest and open
I am open and honest and have been able to make friends with folks from all walks of life. We need legislators who can work across the aisle in the best interest of their constituants.
To understand the needs of the voters
The assassination of John F Kennedy when I was in 2nd grade at 7 years old. I will always remember my teacher crying when it was announced.
I worked on a Mr Softee truck selling ice cream in the Overland, Missouri when I was 16 years old. It lasted for the summer.
Singing in the Rain with my grandaughter
House districts are small enough to allow a legislator to interact with their constituents, if they take the time.
Not necessarily.
Funding. Our school;s are underfunded while our roads and bridges are falling apart. We need to develop funding sources to address these issues.
The Governor should make his goals clear to avoid bills that could be votoed.
Most of the work is done in committee and the halls. The Floor is for grandstanding.
The CLEAN process passed overwhelmingly by the voters in 2018,
No
No
No

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2016

The following issues were listed on Otto's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“
  • Affordable Health Care: Health care reform changed the course of history in this country. Before the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans did not have access to quality, affordable health insurance. More Americans than ever before have the peace of mind that comes along with being covered by health insurance. The number of uninsured Americans has fallen dramatically, so we are clearly moving in the right direction. Affordable health care is essential to all of us and I will fight to keep improving our country’s health care system.
  • Campaign Finance Reform: We must restore the people’s trust in our election systems. This is why, as your U.S. Congressman, I will support a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United.
  • Climate Change: Climate change is real, and humans are contributing to it. That’s a fact backed by just about every scientist in the world. There should be no more arguing this fact. The real discussion begins on what we can do to protect our climate and planet for future generations.
  • Higher Education: Earning a college degree has always been a pathway to grow the middle class and achieve the American Dream. It provides access to well-paying jobs and limitless possibilities. However, many young people and bright minds simply cannot afford to attend a four-year university. Students graduate college with so much debt that it can take decades to pay off. This not only limits the potential of many people, but it weakens America’s economy as a whole because our workforce will become less educated and less skilled.
  • Medicare / Medicaid: This year marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Amendments of 1965, which introduced Medicare and Medicaid into the American health care system. Medicare, the better known program, provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older who have worked and paid into the system. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States and I will continue to fight for its expansion in Missouri. Both of these programs, as they always have, enjoy widespread public support today.

[11]

”
—Bill Otto's campaign website, http://billotto.org/issues/

2012

Otto's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[12]

Increase Economic Development

  • Excerpt: "Work with residents, municipal governments, surrounding districts and civic leaders to spur job creation and target state resources"

Strengthen Public Education

  • Excerpt: "Fight for legislation that will help our public school system become world class"

Make State Government More Effective

  • Excerpt: "Reduce the number of House Representatives"

A Plan to Keep Our Seniors in Their Homes

  • Excerpt: "I support freezing taxes for Seniors and those on fixed income whose total yearly income is less than $50,000."

Improve Worker Rights

  • Excerpt: "Oppose all “Right to Work for Less” legislation so workers can be fairly compensated for their hard work"

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Bill Otto campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2020Missouri House of Representatives District 65Lost general$75,066 N/A**
2018Missouri House of Representatives District 65Lost general$31,577 N/A**
2014Missouri House of Representatives, District 70Won $128,198 N/A**
2012Missouri State House, District 70Won $81,868 N/A**
Grand total$316,709 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Missouri

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Missouri scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.









2017

In 2017, the Missouri General Assembly was in session from January 4 through May 12. The legislature held its first special session from May 22 to May 26. The legislature held its second special session from June 12 to July 25. The legislature held a special session on September 13.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues.
Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to reproductive health issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2016


2015


2014


2013

See also

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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ St. Louis Public Radio, "Missouri Rep. Bill Otto plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner in 2016," May 26, 2015
  2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 11, 2020
  3. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "UNOFFICIAL Candidate Filing List," accessed March 30, 2016
  4. ↑ Politico, "Missouri House Primaries Results," August 2, 2016
  5. ↑ CNN, "Missouri House 02 Results," November 8, 2016
  6. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "All Results - State of Missouri - Primary Election - August 5, 2014," accessed August 26, 2014
  7. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Certified Candidate List - Primary Election," accessed July 24, 2014
  8. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "All Results-State of Missouri-General-November 4, 2014: Unofficial Results," November 8, 2014
  9. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Nov 6, 2012 General Election - All Results," accessed February 13, 2014
  10. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Aug 7, 2012 Primary - All Results," accessed February 13, 2014
  11. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  12. ↑ "billotto," Official Campaign Website
Political offices
Preceded by
- 		Missouri House of Representatives District 70
2013–2017 		Succeeded by
Mark Matthiesen (R)


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