Missouri's 8th congressional district is one of 435 congressional districts in the United States and one of eight congressional districts in the state of Missouri. The district encompasses

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

Southeast

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and South Central Missouri as well as some counties in Southwest Missouri. The district stretches from the Bootheel in the south to the St. Louis southern exurbs of

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

, Hillsboro, and surrounding areas in the

Lead Belt The Southeast Missouri Lead District, commonly called the Lead Belt, is a lead mining district in the southeastern part of Missouri. Counties in the Lead Belt include Saint Francois, Crawford, Dent, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, and Washingt ...

; it ranges in the east to counties along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and in the west to counties along the

Ozark Plateau The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

near

Branson Branson may refer to: Places ;Canada * Branson, Toronto ;United States * Branson, Missouri, a popular tourist destination in the Ozark Mountains * Branson, Colorado * Branson City, California * The Branson School, in Ross, California * Warrenpoi ...

. The district's largest city is Cape Girardeau. A predominantly rural district, the district votes strongly Republican for national offices. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

received 63% of the vote in the district over

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

( D-

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

) who clinched 36%. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

(R-

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

) carried the district with 61.92% over

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

(D-

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

), who received 36.42%. The district increased the margin for Republicans in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

when former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

(R-

) gained 65.88% of the vote over

's 31.99%. The district swung towards Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

in the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kirib ...

. Trump garnered 75.4% of the vote, Democratic Nominee

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

received just 21.0% of the vote, making it one of the most strongly Republican

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Jason T. Smith Jason Thomas Smith (born June 16, 1980) is an American businessman and politician who has been the U.S. representative for Missouri's 8th congressional district since 2013. The district comprises 30 counties, covering just under 20,000 square mi ...

, a Republican, has represented the district in the U.S. Congress since winning a special election on June 4, 2013. The incumbent Republican

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Jo Ann Emerson resigned on January 22, 2013 to take a position as CEO for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

History

Redistricting (2012)

Missouri lost one of its nine congressional district seats following redistricting based on population numbers from the 2010 U.S. Census. The Republican-controlled state legislature decided to redefine

Missouri's 3rd congressional district Missouri's third congressional district is in the eastern and central portion of the state. It surrounds but does not include St Louis City. Its current representative is Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer. The district took its current form in 201 ...

, which was represented by

Russ Carnahan John Russell Carnahan (; born July 10, 1958) is an American politician from the state of Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2013. At the time, the district included the southern th ...

(D-St. Louis). The district included all of Ste. Genevieve and

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

counties and southern St. Louis County and the neighborhoods making up what is known as

South City South City is a condominium in Kolkata, India. It is situated at Prince Anwar Shah Road in Jadavpur. It is also close to the Jodhpur Park and Tollygunge areas of the city. Most of the recent real estate development in Kolkata has taken place ...

of St. Louis. Missouri's 8th congressional district lost its Taney County parts (which were redistricted to the Southwestern-based 7th congressional district, and picked up all of

Crawford Crawford may refer to: Places Canada * Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia * Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario United Kingdom * Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England * Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...

and Ste. Genevieve counties, and most of the southern and western rural parts of Jefferson County. Parts of Jefferson County that are now included in Missouri's 8th include all of the cities of Hillsboro and De Soto, and the extreme southern portions of the Twin Cities of

and Crystal City (most of these two cities are now part of the 2nd congressional district).

Character

Missouri's 8th is a relatively diverse congressional district. Although it is quite conservative and Republican-leaning at the federal level, Democrats formerly performed well here in local and state elections.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, a Democrat from neighboring

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, carried the previous 8th district both times in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

; since then, however, voters in the district have solidly supported the past three Republican presidential nominees. At the local level, Republicans control a majority of elected county offices in Southeast Missouri. In presidential elections, Democratic candidates formerly performed best in the Bootheel, an agricultural area that is the most impoverished region in the district (and the state, for that matter). It has a wide majority of whites and a significant minority of

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. Democrats also used to do well in the Lead Belt region, which contains a core constituency of voters who belong to

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s, particularly in the

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

industry. The district takes in a large swath of the Bible Belt with

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

being the dominant religion in most counties in the district. This influence is demonstrated in conservative voters' positions on social issues such as

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

and

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

. Racially, this district is predominantly white. Many voters here maintain a rural lifestyle where

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

are the backbone of the economy and are important issues of concern. Socioeconomically, it is the poorest district in Missouri (when measured by the median household income adjusted by inflation).

List of members representing the district

Election results from presidential races

Recent election results

2012

2013 special

2014

2016

2018

2020

Counties

There are 30 counties included in the district.

Election results from presidential races, by county

2000

2004

*These numbers reflect only the eastern sections of Taney County that were included in the 8th Congressional District.

2008

*These numbers reflect only the eastern sections of Taney County that were included in the 8th Congressional District.

2012

*These numbers reflect only the western and southern sections of Jefferson County that are included in the 8th Congressional District.

Presidential Primary Election Results

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

*These numbers reflect only the eastern sections of Taney County that were included in the 8th Congressional District at the time of the Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

2008 Republican Presidential Primary

*These numbers reflect only the eastern sections of Taney County that were included in the 8th Congressional District at the time of the Missouri Republican Presidential Primary on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

Largest cities

The 10 largest cities in the district are as follows.

County incomes

Median household incomes

Median Family Incomes

Education

Public school districts

Public Universities

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

br>
- Cape Girardeau **Southeast Missouri State University- Kennett (Satellite Campus) **Southeast Missouri State University- Malden (Satellite Campus) **Perryville Area Higher Education Center (PAHEC) - Perryville (Satellite Campus) **Sikeston Area Higher Education Center (SAHEC) -

Sikeston Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way o ...

(Satellite Campus) *Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing * Missouri University of Science and Technologybr>
- Rolla, Missouri, Rolla (Formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla MR *

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

br>
- Springfield, Missouri, Springfield (Formerly known as Southwest Missouri State University) - Located in

Missouri's 7th congressional district Missouri's 7th congressional district consists of Southwest Missouri. The district includes Springfield, the home of Missouri State University, and the popular tourist destination city of Branson. Located along the borders of Kansas, Oklahoma ...

**Missouri State University- Mountain Grove (Satellite Campus) **Missouri State University-

West Plains West Plains is a city in, and the county seat of Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,184 at the 2020 census. History The history of West Plains can be traced back to 1832, when settler Josiah Howell (after whom Howell ...

(Satellite Campus)

Community Colleges

Mineral Area College
- Park Hills **Mineral Area Regional Medical Center School of Radiation Technology
Three Rivers Community College
- Poplar Bluff

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

{{coord, 37, 11, 39, N, 90, 56, 04, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Congressional districts of Missouri, 08 Constituencies established in 1863 1863 establishments in Missouri Constituencies disestablished in 1933 1933 disestablishments in Missouri Constituencies established in 1935 1935 establishments in Missouri

History

Redistricting (2012)

Character

List of members representing the district

Election results from presidential races

Recent election results

2012

2013 special

2014

2016

2018

2020

Counties

Election results from presidential races, by county

2000

2004

2008

2012

Presidential Primary Election Results

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

2008 Republican Presidential Primary

Largest cities

County incomes

Median household incomes

Median Family Incomes

Education

Public school districts

Public Universities

Community Colleges

Historical district boundaries

See also

References