Karla Eslinger
2024 - Present
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Karla Eslinger is the Missouri Commissioner of Education. She assumed office on July 1, 2024.
Eslinger (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Missouri State Senate to represent District 33. She did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 6, 2024.
Eslinger resigned from the Missouri State Senate after Margie Vandeven retired as Commissioner of Education.[1] Eslinger was appointed as Vandeven's replacement in December 2023.[2]
Eslinger served in the Missouri House of Representatives, representing District 155 from 2019 to 2021.
Biography
Karla Eslinger lives in Wasola, Missouri. Eslinger graduated from Gainesville High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from The College of the Ozarks, a master's degree in education administration from Missouri State University, and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Missouri at Columbia. Eslinger's career experience includes working as an assistant commissioner of education with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, a teacher, a principal, and a superintendent.[3]
Political career
Missouri Commissioner of Education
Eslinger was first appointed as Missouri Commissioner of Education in December 2023. She was sworn into office on July 1, 2024, succeeding Margie Vandeven (nonpartisan).
Elections
2024
See also: Missouri State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Missouri State Senate District 33
Brad Hudson won election in the general election for Missouri State Senate District 33 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brad Hudson (R) | 100.0 | 79,814 |
| Total votes: 79,814 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Missouri State Senate District 33
Brad Hudson defeated Travis Smith in the Republican primary for Missouri State Senate District 33 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brad Hudson | 52.6 | 18,520 |
 | Travis Smith | 47.4 | 16,674 | |
| Total votes: 35,194 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Karla Eslinger (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Eslinger in this election.
2020
See also: Missouri State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Missouri State Senate District 33
Karla Eslinger defeated Tammy Harty in the general election for Missouri State Senate District 33 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Karla Eslinger (R) | 83.8 | 64,891 |
| Tammy Harty (D) | 16.2 | 12,533 | ||
| Total votes: 77,424 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Missouri State Senate District 33
Tammy Harty advanced from the Democratic primary for Missouri State Senate District 33 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Tammy Harty | 100.0 | 3,274 | |
| Total votes: 3,274 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Missouri State Senate District 33
Karla Eslinger defeated Robert Ross and Van Kelly in the Republican primary for Missouri State Senate District 33 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Karla Eslinger | 37.1 | 12,704 |
 | Robert Ross | 36.7 | 12,562 | |
| Van Kelly | 26.2 | 8,958 | ||
| Total votes: 34,224 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 155
Karla Eslinger won election in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 155 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Karla Eslinger (R) | 100.0 | 12,778 |
| Total votes: 12,778 | |||
| = 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 155
Karla Eslinger defeated Jack Clemans and Mike Lind in the Republican primary for Missouri House of Representatives District 155 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Karla Eslinger | 56.7 | 4,343 |
| Jack Clemans | 24.6 | 1,882 | ||
| Mike Lind | 18.8 | 1,439 | ||
| Total votes: 7,664 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Karla Eslinger did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Karla Eslinger did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
State legislative tenure
Scorecards
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.
2024
In 2024, the Missouri State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 17.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Missouri State Legislature was in session from January 4 to May 12.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Missouri State Legislature was in session from January 5 to May 13.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Missouri State Legislature was in session from January 6 to May 14.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Missouri State Legislature was in session from January 8 to May 15. A special session was held from July 27 to September 16. A veto session convened on September 16. A second special session convened on November 5.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Missouri General Assembly was in session from January 9 through May 30
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Sponsored legislation
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.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Eslinger was assigned to the following committees:
- Appropriations Committee
- Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee
- Senate Economic Development Committee, Vice Chair
- Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee, Chair
- Gubernatorial Appointments Committee
- Joint Committee on Legislative Research
2021-2022
Eslinger was assigned to the following committees:
- Appropriations Committee
- Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee
- Gubernatorial Appointments Committee
- Joint Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect
- Joint Committee on Legislative Research
- Joint Committee on Public Assistance
- Professional Registration Committee
2019-2020
Eslinger was assigned to the following committees:
See also
| Missouri | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Missouri Independent, "Missouri education commissioner discusses long-standing issues as she preps to leave job," accessed August 7, 2024
- ↑ Springfield News-Leader, "Missouri's next commissioner of education is state senator, former school superintendent," accessed August 7, 2024
- ↑ Missouri Senate, "Senator Karla Eslinger," accessed January 25, 2021
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Margie Vandeven |
Missouri Commissioner of Education 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Mike Cunningham (R) |
Missouri State Senate District 33 2021-2024 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Missouri House of Representatives District 155 2019-2021 |
Succeeded by Travis Smith (R) |
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Margie Vandeven |
Missouri Commissioner of Education 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Mike Cunningham (R) |
Missouri State Senate District 33 2021-2024 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Missouri House of Representatives District 155 2019-2021 |
Succeeded by Travis Smith (R) |
