Schupp victorious in otherwise brutal election for Missouri Democrats

Creve Coeur – In an otherwise disappointing election for Missouri Democrats, COPE-endorsed State Rep. Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) emerged victorious Nov. 4 in a hard-fought contest for the 24th District Senate seat.

Schupp said Organized Labor played a “huge role” in her victory.

“They were there from the beginning,” Schupp said. “They were there with money and boots on the ground, moving furniture, planting signs and making calls on their own time.

“In many ways, this race was about working families and making sure middle class families don’t continue to get squeezed by some of the policies that have been put in place in Jefferson City,” Schupp said.

ATTACKS ON WORKING FAMILIES

Outgoing Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones made attacking the middle class and working people a part of his agenda. Schupp said he is hopeful that won’t be the agenda of incoming Speaker John Diehl (R-Town & Country).

“These are policies that I don’t think bode well for Missouri as a whole,” Schupp said. “There are people on both sides in the House and in the Senate that are going to stand up and make sure that we don’t have those kid of policies like right-to-work and attacks on prevailing wage that are going to hurt the working people of Missouri.”

ELECT MORE DEMOCRATS

Republicans now hold a super majority in the Missouri House and Senate.

“I’m going to be frank,” Schupp said. “I know this was a bad election for Democrats, but we have got to have more Democrats in the House and Senate to promote Democratic policies.

“There are some Republicans that are on the right side of labor issues, but we can’t always count on them, and we can’t count on them to always be with us like we can with Democrats.

“We have to be very careful and very strategic going forward to make sure that we are doing our best and supporting those candidates and policies that are best for working people in Missouri.”

Schupp was endorsed by AFT Missouri, AFT St. Louis Local 420, Carpenters’ District Council, Missouri AFL-CIO, Missouri NEA, Missouri Nurses Association, Missouri State Teachers Association, Missouri State UAW, SEIU MO/KS State Council, North County Labor Club, South St. Louis County Labor Club, the St. Louis Labor Council, Teamsters Joint Council 13 and UTU PAC Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers Missouri State Legislative Board.