Missouri voters to decide on term limits for certain state executives
Voters in Missouri will decide a constitutional amendment in 2020 to limit state executive officials to two terms. The state constitution currently limits the governor and state treasurer to two terms. This measure would add that limit to the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, and attorney general. The amendment also states that if someone serves in an acting capacity for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected, than he or she can only be elected to that office once. None of the current officeholders have been in office for more than two terms.
Missouri’s constitution limits the number of terms state legislators can serve under Amendment 12, which was approved by voters in 1992 with 75% of the vote. Legislators are prohibited from serving more than eight years in either the state House or state Senate, or a total of 16 years in both chambers. Missouri is one of 15 states where legislators are subject to term limits.
The measure was sponsored by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer (R), who told the Missouri Times, “The voters of Missouri have made it clear they emphatically support term limits. This measure will bring consistency to our term limits for all state officials and prevent them from becoming career politicians.” Luetkemeyer was first elected in 2018, defeating Martin Rucker II (D) with 52.5% of the vote in the general election. We reported on Luetkemeyer’s race in our June 18, 2018, Heart of the Primaries newsletter. Before he advanced to the general election, Luetkemeyer was involved in a three-candidate primary for the Republican nomination. Partway through the race, one of the candidates, a Democratic-Party elected official, withdrew after the local Republican committee filed a lawsuit to remove him from the ballot.
Sen. Ed Emery (R), who opposed the amendment in the legislature, told the Springfield News-Leader that certain executive offices, like the auditor and attorney general, require experience and shouldn’t be term limited like other offices. He said, "We want people in there who are experienced and know the job and know what they’re doing. I do think that those are a little different categorically and functionally than those top executive positions."
The amendment passed the state Senate by a 31-3 vote and was approved by the state House 114-32.
Thirty-six states impose constitutional or statutory limitations on the number of terms the governor can serve. Some states also impose this limit on other state elected officials while other states have term limits for some officials but not others.
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