Patrick Dougherty (born June 30, 1948) is an American Democratic politician. Due to term limits, he retired from political life in 2007 after nearly 30 years of service in the Missouri General Assembly.

Education and background

Patrick Dougherty was born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

. He attended Quincy College and graduated with a BA degree and also attended Kenrick Theological Seminary. Prior to entering politics, he was a caseworker for the Department of Family Services.

Political career

In 1978, Dougherty ran for State Representative in a South St. Louis district close to

Tower Grove Park Tower Grove Park is a municipal park in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. Most of its land was donated to the city by Henry Shaw in 1868. It is on 289 acres (1.17 km²) adjacent to the Missouri Botanical Garden, another of Shaw's legacies. I ...

. He challenged John Blassie, a 12-year incumbent, and defeated him in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

. Dougherty went on to win the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Dougherty won re-election eleven times, serving in the House until 2001. In 2001, Dougherty was the Democratic nominee in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to fill the State Senate seat vacated by

Lacy Clay William Lacy Clay Jr. (born July 27, 1956) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative from from 2001 to 2021. His congressional career ended after he lost in a Democratic primary to Cori Bush in 2020, after successfully defe ...

when Clay was elected to Congress in November 2000. Dougherty won the election with nearly 84% of the vote. Upon his election to the Senate, Dougherty resigned his seat in the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

. He was succeeded by

Mike Daus Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

. In 2002, Dougherty sought election to a full term in the State Senate. He was opposed by State Representative O.L. Shelton in the Democratic primary. Dougherty defeated Shelton in the primary election, and was unopposed in the general election. During his career in the Missouri House and Senate, Dougherty, a former

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

, has focused on issues impacting families and children. When the Democrats controlled the Missouri House, Dougherty served as chair of the Children, Youth and Families Committee. Due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

Doughtery was unable to run for re-election in 2006. Jeff Smith won a heavily contested Democratic primary to replace Dougherty.

Notes

External links

Dougherty's biography from the Missouri Senate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougherty, Pat 1948 births Living people Members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri state senators Politicians from St. Louis People from Decatur, Illinois