Missouri's 4th congressional district

Missouri's 4th congressional district
Missouri's 4th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative Vicky Hartzler (R–Harrisonville)
Cook PVI R+11[1]

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.

This district had historically been a Democratic Party stronghold, made up of white conservatives, among whom were slaveholders. 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 Confederate guerrilla insurgents.

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, establishing racial segregation in schools.

Gradually this area gradually 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.[2] Secondly, population losses in the Kansas City-based 5th district resulted in the 4th losing most of its share of heavily Democratic Jackson County. 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.[3] 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. In the 2010 general election, Hartzler defeated 34-year Democratic incumbent Ike Skelton.

List of representatives

Representative Party Years District home Notes
District created March 4, 1847
Willard P. Hall Democratic March 4, 1847 – March 4, 1853
Mordecai Oliver Whig March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1855
Opposition March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1857
James Craig Democratic March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861
Elijah H. Norton Democratic March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863
Sempronius H. Boyd Unconditional Unionist March 4, 1863 – March 4, 1865
John R. Kelso Independent Republican March 4, 1865 – March 4, 1867
Joseph J. Gravely Republican March 4, 1867 – March 4, 1869
Sempronius H. Boyd Republican March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1871
Harrison E. Havens Republican March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1873 Redistricted to the 6th district
Robert A. Hatcher Democratic March 4, 1873 – March 4, 1879
Lowndes H. Davis Democratic March 4, 1879 – March 4, 1883 Redistricted to the 14th district
James N. Burnes Democratic March 4, 1883 – January 23, 1889 Died
Vacant January 23, 1889 – February 19, 1889
Charles F. Booher Democratic February 19, 1889 – March 4, 1889
Vacant March 4, 1889 – December 2, 1889
Robert P. C. Wilson Democratic December 2, 1889 – March 4, 1893 elected in special election after Rep-elect James N. Burnes died before commencement of congress
Daniel D. Burnes Democratic March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1895
George C. Crowther Republican March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1897
Charles F. Cochran Democratic March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1905
Frank B. Fulkerson Republican March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1907
Charles F. Booher Democratic March 4, 1907 – January 21, 1921 Died
Vacant January 21, 1921 – March 4, 1921
Charles L. Faust Republican March 4, 1921 – December 17, 1928 Died
Vacant December 17, 1928 – February 5, 1929
David W. Hopkins Republican February 5, 1929 – March 4, 1933
March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935 District inactive, all representatives elected At-large on a general ticket
C. Jasper Bell Democratic January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1949
Leonard Irving Democratic January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953
Jeffrey P. Hillelson Republican January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955
George H. Christopher Democratic January 3, 1955 – January 23, 1959 Died
Vacant January 23, 1959 – March 3, 1959
William J. Randall Democratic March 3, 1959 – January 3, 1977
Ike Skelton Democratic January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2011 defeated for re-election to 18th term in 2010
Vicky Hartzler Republican January 3, 2011 – present Harrisonville Incumbent

Counties

There is a total of 26 counties included in MO-04.

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

2003 - 2013

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
  2. ↑ "Senate Races". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ [http://archive.fairvote.org/redistricting/reports/remanual/monews2.htm

Coordinates: 38°16′57″N 93°19′08″W / 38.28250°N 93.31889°W / 38.28250; -93.31889

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