Luke Scavuzzo (D), the incumbent representative in the 124th Legislative District, drew a challenger in his race in republican Jim Lumpkin who filed on March 14th. The district includes the city of Harrisonville in Cass County.
In 2006 Scavuzzo defeated republican incumbent Rex Rector in a close race – the district had a previous history of electing extreme right wing republicans.
State of Missouri General Election – November 2006 – General Election
Tuesday, November 07, 2006State Representative – District 124 – Summary
Precincts Reporting 25 of 25
Candidate Party Votes % of VotesRector, Rex REP 8,043 49.9%
Scavuzzo, Luke DEM 8,071 50.1%
Total Votes 16,114
[emphasis added]
This race was one of five pickups by Democrats in the House in 2006. And, yes, there was a recount at the instigation of Rex Rector. After all was said and done Luke Scavuzzo picked up six more votes. Funny, that hand recount stuff.
Interesting turnaround:
State of Missouri General Election
Tuesday, November 02, 2004State Representative – District 124 – Summary
Precincts Reporting 24 of 24
Candidate Party Votes % of VotesFranzeskos, Johnnie DEM 6,833 36.2%
Rector, Rex REP 12,027 63.8%
Total Votes 18,860
[emphasis added]
Do you notice a trend here?:
State of Missouri General Election – 11/5/2002
Tuesday, November 05, 2002State Representative – District 124 – Summary
Candidate Party Votes % of VotesFranzeskos, Johnnie G DEM 4,943 37.7%
Rector, Rex REP 8,165 62.3%
Total Votes 13,108
[emphasis added]
Okay, it used to be a little tighter:
State of Missouri General Election
Tuesday, November 07, 2000State Representative – District 124 – Summary
Candidate Party Votes % of VotesTieman, II, James (Kevin) DEM 8,109 46.5%
Rector, Rex REP 9,335 53.5%
Total Votes 17,444
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Eeeew! Look who used to hold the seat:
State of Missouri General Election
Tuesday, November 03, 1998State Representative – District 124 – Summary
Candidate Party Votes % of VotesSudduth, Sarah DEM 3,837 32.9%
Hartzler, Vicky REP 7,821 67.1%
Total Votes 11,658
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Yep, the Queen of the Night, that Vicki Hartzler.
That history makes Luke Scavuzzo’s win in 2006 all the more remarkable. How did he do it? He raised money and he ran a very smart campaign.
First, let’s take a look at his 1st Quarter 2008 campaign finance report which was filed on April 5, 2008 with the Missouri Ethics Commission:
Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report
Committe[e]: SCAVUZZO FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $31,695.00
9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $33,945.00
25. MONEY ON HAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD $20,238.98
28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING $19,813.48
Quite good, especially when considering the opposition:
Uh, to date, Lumpkin hasn’t filed anything, including his committee organization paperwork.
Let’s take a look at the 2006 race, in the 30 Day After General Election reports:
Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report
Committe[e]: SCAVUZZO FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $32,470.95
Rex Rector spent [pdf] $57,451.09 in his losing bid for re-election. That’s no typo. In 2006 a republican incumbent outspent his challenger by almost two to one and still lost. You want to see what worked? Look at the campaign expenditures. That’ll be a quick lesson in how to win.
So, are you wondering what ever happened to Rex Rector? Look who filed in the 2008 republican primary for the 31st Senate seat:
State Senate – District 31 [in ballot order]
Republican
Rex Rector Harrisonville MO 2/26/2008
David Pearce Warrensburg MO 2/26/2008
Democratic
Chris Benjamin Freeman MO 2/26/2008
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Heh. Pass the popcorn.