Missouri's 4th congressional district
Missouri's 4th congressional district consists of west central Missouri. The district is predominantly rural and relatively conservative; George W. Bush defeated John Kerry 64% to 35% in Election 2004 and John McCain defeated Barack Obama 61% to 38% in Election 2008. The district is currently represented by Vicky Hartzler, a Republican. She was first elected in the 2010 election, defeating 34-year Democratic incumbent Ike Skelton.
Missouri's 4th congressional district | |||
---|---|---|---|
Missouri's 4th congressional district since January 3, 2013 | |||
Representative |
| ||
Median income | $50,963[1] | ||
Cook PVI | R+17[2] |
This district had historically been a Democratic Party stronghold. Antipathy to the Republican Party had its origins in the American Civil War and the infamous General Order 11. The Union Army ordered evacuation of the county in an attempt to reduce support for and the power of bushwhacker guerrillas. After the Civil War, there was disfranchisement of white males (mostly Democrats) who had been active for the Confederacy until they took loyalty oaths, or until 1870. The area was filled with conflict between Missouri's Radicals, who joined the Republicans, and Conservatives, who were Democrats. By 1880 former secessionists dominated Missouri's congressional delegation and state legislature.
Gradually this area developed a character similar to Yellow Dog Democrat districts in the South. Until 2010, only one Republican had been elected here since the Great Depression, and only for one term. Bill Clinton, former governor of Arkansas, carried this district by a lopsided margin in 1992 and carried it again by a smaller margin in 1996.
However, several demographic trends have converged to erode the Democratic base in this district. First, as the New York Times election maps show, the predominantly rural counties lining the Missouri River have sharply trended Republican between the 2000 Senate election and the 2006 election, following trends across the South.[3] Secondly, population losses in Kansas City resulted in the 4th gradually losing much of its share of heavily Democratic Jackson County to the Kansas City-based 5th district. Until the 1970s, the district stretched as far as Independence. To compensate for this, large portions of heavily Republican Southwest Missouri were reassigned from the neighboring 7th district.[4] The result of these trends resulted in a dramatic collapse of Democratic support in the district. Al Gore, John Kerry, and Barack Obama won less than 40% of the vote here.
List of members representing the district
Member | Party | Years | Cong ress |
Electoral history |
---|---|---|---|---|
District created March 4, 1847 | ||||
Willard P. Hall |
Democratic | March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1853 |
30th 31st 32nd |
[data unknown/missing] |
Mordecai Oliver | Whig | March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 |
33rd 34th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Opposition | March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857 | |||
James Craig |
Democratic | March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1861 |
35th 36th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Elijah H. Norton | Democratic | March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 |
37th | [data unknown/missing] |
Sempronius H. Boyd |
Unconditional Unionist | March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865 |
38th | [data unknown/missing] |
John R. Kelso | Independent Republican | March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1867 |
39th | [data unknown/missing] |
Joseph J. Gravely | Republican | March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869 |
40th | [data unknown/missing] |
Sempronius H. Boyd |
Republican | March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871 |
41st | [data unknown/missing] |
Harrison E. Havens |
Republican | March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873 |
42nd | [data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 6th district. |
Robert A. Hatcher |
Democratic | March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879 |
43rd 44th 45th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Lowndes H. Davis |
Democratic | March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1883 |
46th 47th |
[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 14th district. |
James N. Burnes |
Democratic | March 4, 1883 – January 23, 1889 |
48th 49th 50th |
Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888 but died. |
Vacant | January 23, 1889 – February 19, 1889 |
50th | ||
Charles F. Booher |
Democratic | February 19, 1889 – March 3, 1889 |
Elected to finish Burnes's term in the 50th Congress. Retired. | |
Vacant | March 4, 1889 – December 2, 1889 |
51st | ||
Robert P. C. Wilson | Democratic | December 2, 1889 – March 3, 1893 |
51st 52nd |
Elected to finish Burnes's term in the 51st Congress. [data unknown/missing] |
Daniel D. Burnes | Democratic | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895 |
53rd | [data unknown/missing] |
George C. Crowther |
Republican | March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897 |
54th | [data unknown/missing] |
Charles F. Cochran | Democratic | March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1905 |
55th 56th 57th 58th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Frank B. Fulkerson | Republican | March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1907 |
59th | [data unknown/missing] |
Charles F. Booher |
Democratic | March 4, 1907 – January 21, 1921 |
60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th |
[data unknown/missing] Died. |
Vacant | January 21, 1921 – March 3, 1921 |
66th | ||
Charles L. Faust |
Republican | March 4, 1921 – December 17, 1928 |
67th 68th 69th 70th |
Elected to finish Booher's term. Died. |
Vacant | December 17, 1928 – February 5, 1929 |
70th | ||
David W. Hopkins | Republican | February 5, 1929 – March 3, 1933 |
70th 71st 72nd |
Elected to finish Faust's term in the 70th Congress. Also elected to start Faust's term in the 71st Congress. [data unknown/missing] |
District inactive | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935 |
73rd | All representatives elected at-large on a general ticket. | |
C. Jasper Bell |
Democratic | January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1949 |
74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Leonard Irving | Democratic | January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953 |
81st 82nd |
[data unknown/missing] |
Jeffrey P. Hillelson | Republican | January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955 |
83rd | [data unknown/missing] |
George H. Christopher |
Democratic | January 3, 1955 – January 23, 1959 |
84th 85th 86th |
[data unknown/missing] Died. |
Vacant | January 23, 1959 – March 3, 1959 |
86th | ||
William J. Randall |
Democratic | March 3, 1959 – January 3, 1977 |
86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th |
Elected to finish Christopher's term. [data unknown/missing] |
Ike Skelton |
Democratic | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2011 |
95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th |
[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election. |
Vicky Hartzler |
Republican | January 3, 2011 – present |
112th 113th 114th 115th 116th |
Elected in 2010. |
Election Results
2010 Election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Vicky Hartzler | 113,489 | 50.43% | |
Democratic | Ike Skelton (Incumbent) | 101,532 | 45.11% | |
Libertarian | Jason Michael Braun | 6,123 | 2.72% | |
Constitution | Greg Cowan | 3,912 | 1.74% | |
Total votes | 225,056 | 100.00% |
2012 Election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Vicky Hartzler (Incumbent) | 192,237 | 60.3 | |
Democratic | Teresa Hensley | 113,120 | 35.5% | |
Libertarian | Bill Slantz | 10,407 | 3.3% | |
Constitution | Greg Cowan | 2,959 | 0.5% | |
Total votes | 318,723 | 100.0% |
2014 Election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Vicky Hartzler (Incumbent) | 120,014 | 68.08% | |
Democratic | Nate Irvin | 46,464 | 26.36% | |
Libertarian | Herschel L. Young | 9,793 | 5.56% | |
Write-In | Gregory A Cowan | 15 | 0.01% | |
Total votes | 176,286 | 100% | ||
Republican hold |
2016 Election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Vicky Hartzler | 225,348 | 67.83% | |
Democratic | Gordon Christensen | 92,510 | 27.85% | |
Libertarian | Mark Bliss | 14,376 | 4.33% | |
Total votes | 332,234 | 100% | ||
Republican hold |
2018 Election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Vicky Hartzler | 190,138 | 64.8% | |
Democratic | Renee Hoagenson | 95,968 | 32.7% | |
Libertarian | Mark Bliss | 7,210 | 2.5% | |
Total votes | 293,316 | 100% | ||
Republican hold |
Counties
There is a total of 24 counties included in MO-04.
Election results from presidential races
Year | Office | Results | Political parties that won the district |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | President | George W. Bush 58 - Al Gore 40% | Republican Party (United States) |
2004 | President | George W. Bush 64 - John Kerry 35% | Republican Party (United States) |
2008 | President | John McCain 61 - Barack Obama 38% | Republican Party (United States) |
2012 | President | Mitt Romney 61 - Barack Obama 36% | Republican Party (United States) |
2016 | President | Donald Trump 65 - Hillary Clinton 29% | Republican Party (United States) |
2008 Presidential Election Results by County
The table below shows how individual counties in MO-04 voted in the 2008 presidential election. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) won every single county in MO-04 and swept the district with 60.58 percent of the vote while U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) received 37.87 percent, a 22.71-percent margin of victory for the GOP.
County | John McCain | Barack Obama | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
Barton | 74.21 | 24.46 | R + 49.75 |
Dade | 69.65 | 28.79 | R + 40.86 |
Moniteau | 67.02 | 31.27 | R + 35.75 |
Laclede | 66.62 | 31.97 | R + 34.65 |
Cedar | 66.01 | 32.42 | R + 33.59 |
Polk | 65.39 | 33.24 | R + 32.15 |
Dallas | 63.71 | 34.57 | R + 29.14 |
Webster | 63.77 | 34.76 | R + 29.01 |
Pulaski | 63.68 | 34.99 | R + 28.69 |
Camden | 63.59 | 35.12 | R + 28.47 |
Cole | 62.94 | 36.03 | R + 26.91 |
Pettis | 60.51 | 38.07 | R + 22.44 |
Benton | 60.20 | 37.93 | R + 22.27 |
Vernon | 60.08 | 38.08 | R + 22.00 |
St. Clair | 59.76 | 37.81 | R + 21.95 |
Morgan | 59.58 | 38.97 | R + 20.61 |
Cass | 59.18 | 39.55 | R + 19.63 |
Bates | 58.35 | 39.49 | R + 18.86 |
Lafayette | 56.88 | 41.58 | R + 15.30 |
Hickory | 55.72 | 42.44 | R + 13.28 |
Johnson | 55.18 | 42.93 | R + 12.25 |
Henry | 54.62 | 43.63 | R + 10.99 |
Ray | 50.60 | 47.42 | R + 3.18 |
Saline | 50.39 | 47.85 | R + 2.54 |
2008 Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary Election Results by County
The table below shows how individual counties in MO-04 voted in the 2008 Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary. Former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) swept the district by a convincing margin over U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois). Clinton won every county in the district with the exception of Cole County, home of the State Capitol.
County | Hillary Clinton | Barack Obama | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
Benton | 68.77 | 26.95 | C + 41.82 |
St. Clair | 67.52 | 26.12 | C + 41.40 |
Hickory | 67.95 | 27.86 | C + 40.09 |
Ray | 65.29 | 30.31 | C + 34.98 |
Bates | 63.51 | 30.08 | C + 33.43 |
Dallas | 63.75 | 32.01 | C + 31.74 |
Henry | 63.18 | 32.10 | C + 31.08 |
Barton | 63.43 | 32.85 | C + 30.58 |
Polk | 63.81 | 33.28 | C + 30.53 |
Vernon | 61.55 | 31.42 | C + 30.13 |
Dade | 62.22 | 33.12 | C + 29.10 |
Laclede | 62.48 | 33.77 | C + 28.71 |
Morgan | 62.05 | 33.58 | C + 28.47 |
Cedar | 60.30 | 33.00 | C + 27.30 |
Webster | 61.20 | 34.46 | C + 26.74 |
Lafayette | 60.75 | 35.40 | C + 25.35 |
Moniteau | 60.38 | 36.38 | C + 24.00 |
Cass | 59.76 | 36.73 | C + 23.03 |
Saline | 57.46 | 37.85 | C + 19.61 |
Camden | 57.99 | 38.75 | C + 19.24 |
Pulaski | 56.07 | 39.35 | C + 16.72 |
Pettis | 54.76 | 41.38 | C + 13.38 |
Johnson | 53.22 | 43.07 | C + 10.15 |
Cole | 45.07 | 51.16 | O + 6.09 |
Historical district boundaries
References
- https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=29&cd=04
- "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
- "Senate Races". The New York Times.
- https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri%27s_4th_Congressional_District
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present