U.S. Senate election, Missouri, 2010

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United States Senate
Elections, 2010
Primary election dates, 2010

The Missouri United States Senate election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010 following a primary election on August 3, 2010. March 30, 2010, was the deadline for filing nominating signatures.

Roy Blunt (R) won 54.2% of the vote to defeat opponent Robin Carnahan (D), who won 40.6% of the vote.

Background

Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond (R) was the senior U.S. senator from Missouri. He was first elected to the position in 1986 having defeated Lieutenant Governor of Missouri Harriett Woods in the general election and was subsequently re-elected in 1992, 1998 and 2004. Bond said on January 8, 2009, that he would not seek a fifth term in office in November 2010.

Qualifications

Standard qualifications necessary in order to be considered for a United States Senate position as of 2010 included being at least 30 years of age, a United States citizen for at least nine years prior to the date of the election, and, in this instance, an inhabitant of Missouri when elected.

The state of Missouri required that any individual who desires to file as a candidate for election to a public office must file a Candidate's Affidavit of Tax Payments with the Missouri Department of Revenue. In signing the Affidavit, the candidate agreed that he/she was not delinquent in the payment of any state income taxes, personal property taxes, or real property taxes on his/her place of residence as stated on the declaration of candidacy and that he/she was not a past or present corporate officer of any motor vehicle and driver license office that owes any taxes to the state. The affidavit must have been notarized and a copy of the affidavit must have then be attached to the declaration of candidacy filed with the secretary of state.

In order to have been considered an independent candidate on the November 2010 election ballot, the individual must have collected the signatures of at least 10,000 registered Missouri voters.

General election

On November 2, 2010, Blunt was elected to the United States Senate. He defeated Robin Carnahan (D), Jonathan Dine (Libertarian), Jerry Beck (Constitution) and numerous write-in candidates.

United States Senate, Missouri General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roy Blunt	54.2%	1,054,160
	Democratic	Robin Carnahan	40.6%	789,736
	Libertarian	Jonathan Dine	3%	58,663
	Constitution	Jerry Beck	2.1%	41,309
	Write-in	Dale M. Hoinoski	0%	14
	Write-in	Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr.	0%	7
	Write-in	Jeff Wirick	0%	4
	Write-in	Charlie L. Bailey	0%	3
	Write-in	Richie L. Wolfe	0%	2
	Write-in	Mark S. Memoly	0%	1
Total Votes				1,943,899

August 3, 2010 primaries

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Robin Carnahan, elected Secretary of State of Missouri in both 2004 and 2008, announced her candidacy on February 3, 2009.
• Richard Charles Tolbert
• Francis J. Vangeli

Electoral results

2010 Race for United States Senate - Democratic Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Robin Carnahan (D)		83.8%
Richard Charles Tolbert (D)		10.6%
Francis J. Vangeli (D)		5.5%
Total votes		315,776

Republican primary

Candidates

• Roy Blunt, a member of the United States House of Representatives representing the 7th Congressional District and father of Matt Blunt, Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009, announced his candidacy on February 19, 2009.
• Charles Allen "Chuck" Purgason, a member of the Missouri State Senate representing the 33rd District, announced his candidacy on July 23, 2009.
• Davis Ronald Conway, president of Affinity Electrical Contracting
• Antonio Eugene "Tony" Laszacs
• Hector Maldonado, an Iraq and Afghanistan combat Veteran
• Kristi Nichols
• Robert L. "Bob" Praprotnik, a St. Louis architecture firm owner
• Deborah Solomon, a substitute teacher for the Fort Osage School District
• Michael Alan "Mike" Vontz

Electoral results

2010 Race for United States Senate - Republican Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Roy Blunt (R)		70.9%
Chuck Purgason (R)		13.1%
Kristi Nichols (R)		7.0%
Deborah Solomon (R)		2.6%
Hector Maldonado (R)		1.5%
Davis Conway (R)		1.5%
R. L. Praprotnik (R)		1.4%
Tony Laszacs (R)		1.1%
Mike Vontz (R)		0.9%
Total votes		577,602

Libertarian primary

Candidates

• Jonathan Dine
• Cisse Spragins

Electoral results

2010 Race for United States Senate - Libertarian Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Jonathan Dine (L)		58.5%
Cisse Spragins (L)		41.5%
Total votes		3,507

Constitution Party primary

Candidates

• Jerry Garth Beck
• Joseph "Joe" Martellaro
• Michael Arthur "Mike" Simmons, Jr.

Electoral results

2010 Race for United States Senate - Constitution Party Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Jerry Beck (CST)		43.4%
Mike Simmons (CST)		29.4%
Joe Martellaro (CST)		27.2%
Total votes		1,885

Other candidates

• Midge Potts, Co-Chair of the Progressive Party of Missouri and delegate to the Green Party of the United States National Committee
• Frazier Glenn Miller, founder of the White Patriot Party

General Election campaign

Commercials

Roy Blunt

Robin Carnahan

Endorsements

Roy Blunt

• Coalition of Missouri State Senators
• Family Research Council Action PAC
• Jim Talent, former United States Senator from Missouri
• Missouri Republican Assembly
• Missourians United for Life
• Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate
• National Republican Senatorial Committee
• Peter Kinder, Lieutenant Governor of Missouri
• Red State

Robin Carnahan

• Committee for County Progress (CCP)
• Council for a Livable World
• EMILY's List
• Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Teamsters
• Missouri Laborers' Legislative Committee
• Sierra Club

Polling data

Rasmussen polls

Rasmussen Poll - September 21, 2009
Candidates		Percentage
Robin Carnahan (D)		46%
Roy Blunt (R)		46%
Some other candidate		2%
Undecided		5%
Total voters		500

Rasmussen Poll - January 19, 2010
Candidates		Percentage
Roy Blunt (R)		49%
Robin Carnahan (D)		43%
Some other candidate		3%
Undecided		5%
Total voters		500

Rasmussen Poll - February 10, 2010
Candidates		Percentage
Roy Blunt (R)		49%
Robin Carnahan (D)		42%
Some other candidate		3%
Undecided		6%
Total voters		500

Rasmussen Poll - March 9, 2010
Candidates		Percentage
Roy Blunt (R)		47%
Robin Carnahan (D)		41%
Some other candidate		4%
Undecided		8%
Total voters		500

Rasmussen Poll - March 9, 2010
Candidates		Percentage
Roy Blunt (R)		48%
Robin Carnahan (D)		42%
Some other candidate		4%
Undecided		8%
Total voters		500

A telephone survey of 750 likely voters conducted by Rasmussen Reports on October 19, 2009, found Blunt leading with 52% of the vote compared to Carnahan's 43%.

Public Policy poll

Public Policy Polling (PPP) Poll - March 27-28, 2010
Candidates		Percentage
Roy Blunt (R)		45%
Robin Carnahan (D)		41%
Undecided		13%
Total voters		495

Fundraising

In the fourth quarter of 2009, Democrat Robin Carnahan raised $868,000 and Republican Roy Blunt raised $1.34 million. It was the first quarter since announcing candidacy that Carnahan did not exceed $1 million in fundraising.

In the first quarter of 2010, Carnahan raised $1.5 million and Blunt raised $1.3 million.

Noteworthy events

National Voter Registration Act

See also: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

Under President George W. Bush, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against the state of Missouri and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan for violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NRVA). The complaint said the state had not complied with voter list maintenance provisions.A district court ruled that the DOJ had not provided enough evidence to prove Missouri violated its obligations under the NRVA, and an appeals court affirmed this evidentiary ruling in July, 2008. The DOJ did not pursue further litigation.

In June, 2009, the state of Missouri settled a lawsuit with Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a community-based advocacy group that conducted large-scale voter registration drives. ACORN sued the state for violation of Section 7 of the NRVA requiring the Missouri Department of Social Services to provide low-income Missourians with the opportunity to register to vote.Democratic candidate Robin Carnahan was serving as secretary of state at the time of the lawsuit. KRCG News said the Missouri Republican Party provided them with emails between ACORN and Carnahan's staff regarding research for the case. They said, "KRCG News checked and found that none of the e-mails are actually to, or from, Carnahan herself - all deal with her staff."

Republican ads said Carnahan had connections to (ACORN). Lloyd Smith, said about Carnahan, "Her chief-of-staff and other staff people have had inappropriate connectivity to ACORN." Smith said ACORN was "A group that's been shown not just in Missouri but across the nation being involved in illegal voter activity."

Carnahan said, "I don't have any ties to ACORN," and "I've called on law enforcement officials to prosecute anyone who violates election laws, whether it's ACORN or anybody else."

External links

• List of candidates qualified for Missouri's August 3 United States Senate primary
• Green Paper's list of candidates for United States Senate, 2010

General Election candidates

• Robin Carnahan for Senate Campaign website
• Roy Blunt for Senate Campaign website
• Jerry Beck for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Jonathan Dine for U.S. Senator Missouri 2010 Campaign website
• Midge Potts for U.S. Senate Campaign website

Former candidates

• Richard Tolbert for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Francis Vangeli for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Ronald Beller for Senate Campaign website
• Davis Conway for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Tony Laszacs for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Hector Maldonado for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Kristi Nichols for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Bob Praprotnik for Senate Campaign website
• Chuck Purgason for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Schmidt for United States Senate Campaign website
• Deborah Solomon for United States Senator Campaign website
• Mike Vontz for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Joseph Martellaro for U.S. Senate Campaign website
• Mike Simmons for U.S. Senate Campaign website