KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missourians have voted down several conservative-backed measures, including a limited early voting proposal, while electing an overwhelmingly Republican-dominated Legislature.
The election Tuesday marked a sweeping victory for state-level Republicans, who gained a more than two-thirds majority in both legislative chambers, meaning GOP lawmaker will be able to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
The GOP will also have more power next session after Missourians passed Amendment 10, which allows the Legislature to override a governor's decision to freeze or slow spending on items in the state budget. The initiative also prevents governors from making budget recommendations based on revenue from legislation that's not yet been passed.
But several other proposed constitutional amendments supported by Republicans failed. A measure to allow early voting failed, and a proposal to end teacher tenure and require a majority of educator evaluations to be based on student performance data was rejected.
The proposed constitutional amendments were some of the most attention-grabbing issues during an election without races for president, governor or U.S. senate seats.
Voters elected Republican Auditor Tom Schweich, the only candidate running for a statewide office, to another term after he faced no Democratic opposition. All eight U.S. representatives - Jason Smith, Vicky Hartzler, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Billy Long, Emanuel Cleaver, Lacy Clay, Ann Wagner and Sam Graves - faced no major challengers and won re-election.
Voter attention focused on Amendment 3, the teacher-tenure proposal.
Educator groups continued fighting the measure even after its main sponsor stopped campaigning following poor public polling.
The group Teach Great, financed by investment firm founder Rex Sinquefield, hoped the proposal would create a system to reward good teachers and encourage poor-scoring educators to shape up.
Educators said it could have pushed educators to "teach to the test," and could have led to unfair results for teachers of disadvantaged students who might test poorly regardless of instruction.
"I just think it's too broad and an arbitrary way to judge performance," said 52-year-old Laura Lynch of Kansas City, a creative director and Democrat.
Missourians also defeated an early voting initiative sent to voters by the Republican-led Legislature. Proposed Amendment 6 would have created six days of early voting before general elections.
Missouri currently has no early voting, other than allowing absentee voting in limited circumstances when people attest they won't be able to vote in person on Election Day.
Republican backers said the measure could have increased access to voting while ensuring residents don't miss important campaign developments by voting too early. Democrats argued that the proposal was too restrictive, in part because weekend voting was not included. It also included a caveat that early voting could occur only if funding is approved from the governor and Legislature.
"I don't think it was going to make any difference the way it was worded and all the conditions they put on it," said 67-year old chaplain and Democrat Diane McCain of Columbia.
Voters also passed a constitutional amendment that could make it easier to gain convictions or guilty pleas in child sexual abuse cases.
Some prosecutors and law enforcement officials who want to be able to use allegations of past criminal acts against suspects facing sex-related charges involving victims under 18 years old supported Amendment 2. The measure faced no organized opposition.
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