GOP holds Senate seat
Published Sept. 7, 2007
Rep. Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, won a seat in the state Senate Tuesday in a special election to replace former Republican Sen. Chuck Gross after he resigned.
Dempsey, who won the election by a 12 percent margin against Democratic challenger Ed Appelbaum, said he sees his election as a victory for bipartisan action in the legislature.
"People in St. Charles looked at me as someone who would work with members of both parties to solve problems and come up with common sense solutions," Dempsey said.
Missouri Republican Party spokesman Paul Sloca said Dempsey's support was also derived from voters' approval of other Republicans in state government.
"The people of Missouri are embracing the policies of this governor and the legislature," Sloca said.
Appelbaum said he attributes Dempsey's victory to the high level of name recognition and access to funding that comes with being a four-term veteran of the General Assembly.
Despite Dempsey's margin of victory, Appelbaum remains optimistic for the future of Missouri's Democratic Party.
"I think the political future is going to hinge on the general election in November of 2008," Appelbaum said. "This really will be a review of what has been going on in the last four years under the Republican administration. I believe we're due for a Democratic takeover of the House and Senate."
Dempsey said he will attempt to accomplish a large variety of policy goals while he is in office, most notably health care reform, tax reform and immigration reform.
"I believe that we should not extend the benefits that come with citizenship to those that are not following the process to enter the country," Dempsey said.
Dempsey said he intends to work to increase funding for public education, including MU, while he is in office.
"I think we're making progress," he said. "We came out a few years ago, there were significant budget shortfalls and the higher education system received cuts to their core budgets. We've seen increases since. We need to continue to increase funding so that we can keep Missouri's best and brightest in Missouri."
In order to achieve this goal, Dempsey suggested increasing funding toward both need- and merit-based scholarships.