Last night, Missouri voters went to the polls for our primaries, along with voting on local issues.

One huge surprise was state auditor Claire McCaskill defeating Governor Holden in the primary. This was an ugly campaign, with enough mud flung to fill many, many pig styes. From what I’m reading this morning, Holden is the first sitting governor to be ousted through the primaries in the US in about ten years, and the first ever in Missouri. That McCaskill was able to oust him in the primaries is astounding to me, as I really didn’t think she had the umph to do it. I suspect folks here are tired of Holden, and what has been represented as fiscal irresponsiblity at times — many times from the very person who ousted him!

On the two proposed amendments to the state constitution, they both went as I expected they would.

Amendment 1, which would allow gambling on the rivers near Branson was defeated, 55% to 45%. I’m not overly surprised at that. The way it read was to open up gambling on the White River for Rockaway Beach, but I’ve heard it said that it would also open up the White River for other gambling venues. We have a dozen casinos in Missouri, all of which must be on the Missouri or Mississippi River by state law, and I guess folks thought that was enough. This, even as St. Louis contemplates additional casinos downtown and south of the city. An interesting juxtaposition in opinion, it would seem.

Amendment 2, which would constitutionally define marriage as solely between one man and one woman passed, 70% to 30%. Again, I’m not surprised at the outcome here. Were there not so much furor, inconsistency and downright confusion over other unions in the news right now, the outcome might’ve been different, probably through indifference as much as anything. Then again, I may be giving short shrift to the moral framework of the folks here in Missouri — they might’ve voted this way no matter what the backdrop was.

It appears, however, that the issue of non-heterosexual marriages appears to have been taken up as a human rights cause, and I’m sure that will bring no end of lawsuits and challenges once the amendment is in place. Stay tuned on this one!