A state constitutional amendment touted as a "right to pray" provision has won by better than a four-to-one margin.
Proponents say Amendment 2 protects the right of Missourians to pray in public. Opponents of the measure say those protections are already guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and the amendment would be a boon for lawyers, who will battle in court over unintended consequences spawned by the provision.
Meanwhile in the race for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood, has won. The Springfield News-Leader declared Akin the winner with about 80 percent of votes tallied. Akin faced down challengers Sarah Steelman, the former state treasurer, and businessman John Brunner has 29 percent.
In the race for the GOP nomination for governor, businessman Dave Spence is the winner to face incumbent Gov. Jay Nixon in November.
Here's a summary of results (see vote totals on the our news partner FOX2Now's website):
GOVERNOR: Incumbent Democrat Jay Nixon ran away with the nomination. In the GOP race, businessman Dave Spence won over three challengers.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: It's Susan Montee for the Democrats. In the GOP race, Peter Kinder locks it up in the race against three other challengers.
SECRETARY OF STATE: Democrat Jason Kander ran away with the nomination. For the Republican nomination, Shane Schoeller beat Scott Rupp and Bill Stouffer.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: GOP politician Ed Martin pounds Adam Lee Warren.
Here are the statewide races we're following tonight. Results will be posted as more substantial results come in.
STATEWIDE RACES/BALLOT MEASURES
Italic indicates projected or final winner. See the Secretary of State website for vote totals.
AMENDMENT 2 ()
"Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to ensure: That the right of Missouri citizens to express their religious beliefs shall not be infringed; that school children have the right to pray and acknowledge God voluntarily in their schools; and; that all public schools shall display the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution."
- Yes (approving the amendment)
- No
U.S. SENATE
Republican
- John Brunner
- Todd Akin
- Sarah Steelman
- Hector Maldonado
- Mark Lodes
- Mark Memoly
- Robert Poole
- Jerry Beck
Democrat
- Claire McCaskill
Libertarian
- Jonathan Dine
GOVERNOR
Republican
- Dave Spence
- Bill Randles
- Fred Sauer
- John Weiler
Democrat
- Jay Nixon
- Clay Thunderhawk
- William B. Campbell
Libertarian
- Jim Higgins
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Republican
- Peter Kinder
- Brad Lager
- Mike Carter
- Charles Kullmann
Democrat
- Judy Baker
- Bill Haas
- Sara Lampe
- Susan Montee
- Dennis Weisenburger
- Fred Kratky
- Jackie Townes McGee
- Becky Lee Plattner
Libertarian
- Matthew Copple
Constitution
- Cynthia Davis
SECRETARY OF STATE
Republican
- Scott Rupp
- Shane Schoeller
- Bill Stouffer
Democrat
- Jason Kander
- MD Rabbi Alam
Libertarian
- Cisse Spragins
Constitution
- Justin Harter
TREASURER
Republican
- Cole McNary
Democrat
- Clint Zweifel
Libertarian
- Sean O'Toole
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Republican
- Ed Martin
- Adam Warren
Democrat
- Chris Koster
Libertarian
- Dave Browning
Allah help us all.
We always like the simple solutions. It's almost always wrong, but it is simple.
http://www.msbanet.org/files/law_policy_labor/law/ReligiousFreedomAmendmentHJR2.pdf "As you can see, the proposed language has some very interesting nuances that could conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment. Because of this conflict, school districts will face confusion in developing policies to meet the requirements of the new law and will face additional classroom burdens in implementing the new requirements. Also, districts will likely face lawsuits based upon individuals attempting to define exactly what the new law means and which law, federal or state, will govern. Also remember this is a proposal seeking to amend the state constitution. It is not a proposed statute. Once passed, a constitution is difficult to amend. It is a lengthy, time consuming and difficult process to even get a measure placed on a ballot. Therefore, it is likely that, if passed, this amendment will be Missouri law for quite some time."
This part of the amendment: "That school children have the right to pray and acknowledge God voluntarily in their schools" seems to apply to private schools too, which has interesting ramifications. And the last part about mandatory displaying the Bill of Rights in public schools - not really a big deal since it gets covered in curriculum and is in many classrooms already... but to me it seems like the silly sort of mandate that one would expect from an authoritarian-type goverment.