In Tuesday’s election, Democratic candidates made significant inroads with rural voters, many of whom have struggled profoundly due to the effects of tariffs, healthcare cuts, and the war in Iran.
Jess Piper, Executive Director of Blue Missouri, joins Jen to unpack why rural wins in local races matter, even those less likely to be featured in national headlines. Specifically, Jess and Jen unravel how Missouri’s State House and Senate flips are vital to reclaiming and advancing reproductive rights and public education.
Jess Piper is the Executive Director for Blue Missouri. She is the author of The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper on Substack.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian. I am delighted on this Friday after Election Day to welcome Jess Piper, the head of Blue Missouri. She is one of the heroines in Red America who had a vision that no part of the country should be left behind, and that Democrats made a mistake in ignoring large stretches of America. Jess? Congratulations, it is a new day in America, a new day in your home state of Missouri.
Jess Piper
Yes, it’s so good to be with you, and if I… if I were a more emotional person, I would be crying right now. I’m still in work mode. Thank you for having me, Jen. It is a great day.
Jen Rubin
Take us through the gains that Democrats made in Missouri.
Jess Piper
They were huge gains, and I know, you know, we heard about Georgia and Texas and Iowa, and Kansas, and a lot of people didn’t hear about Missouri, but it was massive. So, in my state, we flipped 16 seats from red to blue. We also.
Jen Rubin
That’s state legislative seats, state house seats.
Jess Piper
and two Senate seats, two state senate seats. It’s massive. And we also flipped a congressional district, which is just unheard of. And Jen, let me tell you how fantastic this is, because people may remember that Missouri Republicans, with Trump’s, at Trump’s behest, tried to redistrict, mid-cycle, and they tried to make our map go from 6 Democrats and 2… or, 6 Republicans and 2 Democrats, to 7 Republicans and 1 Democrat. We beat that gerrymander, but not only that. Their map is now 5-3, because we took a seat from them in the meantime. Fred Wellman over in the St. Louis area was able to win in Congressional District 2. This man is a 30-year veteran of the Army, a helicopter pilot. He graduated from West Point and Harvard, and he was still neck and neck with the lady who hasn’t visited Missouri in a decade, right? But we did.
Jen Rubin
And Wagner.
Jess Piper
We did it. We also beat back tons of amendments. They tried to do another abortion ban. We beat it. They tried to gerrymander us again. We put it in the Constitution that you cannot gerrymander us again. They have always, and this is the big one, Jen, they have always decided that whatever amendments we put into the Constitution, or propositions we pass. that they don’t care. They’re gonna undo it anyway. We put a constitutional amendment in there this year saying, unless you have 80% of the electorate saying that, you cannot overturn our will anymore, so they’re done.
Jen Rubin
You’ll also beat back an amendment that would have taken away state income tax and essentially bankrupted the state.
Jess Piper
That’s the second time we had to do it. We also beat it, you know, in August in the primaries. Not only did we beat it, we beat it by 85%. So they tried to do it again, and again, voters were like, absolutely not. And we beat them again.
Jen Rubin
And talk to us also about abortion rights and gender-affirming care. What did the Republicans try, and what happened?
Jess Piper
So, they tried to, conflate children and transgender minor surgeries with abortion. It was actually one of the bullet points on the anti-abortion amendment. Our voters saw right through it. So, in 2024, we were the first state to overturn an abortion ban, and we did that by 51% when they put it back on the ballot, on Tuesday, we beat it by 55%. So not only are we still beating it, but we’re beating it by more. But I’ll tell you, Jen, we just got a new Speaker of the House in Missouri’s name is Nick Schroar. He’s a real nasty guy. The first thing he said is, we’re not done with abortion.
Jen Rubin
They gotta learn their lesson.
Jess Piper
Yes, you are, sit down, we’re taking care of it.
Jen Rubin
Talk to us about the ability simply to field candidates. When you started this, there were tons of races where Democrats weren’t even on the ballot. what was the difference between then and now, in terms of just putting Democrats on the ballot in all the races?
Jess Piper
When I ran 4 years ago, over 40% of the seats were uncontested. This year, 2%. 2%.
Jen Rubin
Amazing.
Jess Piper
And that’s why you’re seeing these gains, because we are competing everywhere. And not only that, my organization is getting funding to people everywhere. So those 16 seats that flipped, 4 of them were funded by Blue Missouri, my organization. But Jen, this is the really important part. These people got funding because they had raised less than $8,000. We gave them $8,000, and they flipped state legislative seats. four of them. And so that just gives me chills, because when I talk about the cheap seats, this is what I mean. Why have we walked away from areas where it took $8,000 to bring democracy back?
Jen Rubin
We’ve talked about all the factors that may have gone into this. Diesel prices, the war, tariffs, the gerrymander. Was it all of those things? Was it one thing in particular? You don’t get results like this usually, even if gas prices are really high.
Jess Piper
I think, when I was talking to people, it’s the corruption. It was the absolute corruption that they could not overlook, and in rural spaces, a lot of times that is, you know, it automatically goes hand-in-hand with diesel prices, tariffs, the fact that, you know, people are struggling to find jobs, childcare, healthcare. all of that, and then looking at the news every night and seeing that their president made $2 billion off of crypto. These things really caught up with them. And also the fact that, these Republicans, who were trying to campaign in places like mine wouldn’t even address it. They wouldn’t even talk about what people are going through, or they would tell them, this was the craziest thing. It’s worth it. That what you’re going through is worth it. And no one in my area could say, this is… no, it’s not. This is not worth it. Bombing little girls in Iran is not worth higher diesel prices.
Jen Rubin
Right. How does this now help the next cycle? People like you and I, we revel in the results, and then the next day we say, what’s the next cycle? How does this help your effort to recruit candidates, to qualify measures, to get people engaged, once they see their vote actually matters?
Jess Piper
That’s exactly what it is. It’s showing people that you matter. We came back into rural spaces. The Washington Post ran a story about rural voters and said that they had gone… they had shifted towards Democrats 15%. So they’re still voting in majority, for Republicans, but that shift will win races at the top of the ticket. In my own congressional district, we had a Democrat running fantastic guy. He could not get over the line. He didn’t win. But he shifted every single county in my district. He shifted them by 20 points, something we haven’t seen in almost 3 decades. So, people getting excited, and it’s hard, it’s still hard to be in Missouri, because I look around and I see no… no wins, right, in my immediate area. But I… and I wrote about this today, I am standing in the cornfield, seeing a blue wave, and I don’t say that lightly, because I don’t want to be wrong about anything. But Jen, what I saw in Iowa for years, what I saw in Kansas for years, is what I see on the ground in Missouri, and I know that it’s coming.
Jen Rubin
That is remarkable. How important is this for young people, whose entire adult life may have been in the Trump era, frankly, who have just come to expect, it’s the way it is, they’re all insane, they’re all corrupt. How important do you think it’s going to be for engaging young people in politics?
Jess Piper
It’s really important, but this is what I want everyone to know. They need to see action right away. And that’s the thing. They’re not going to sit back and wait on Democrats to take their sweet time about getting things, you know, accomplished. And I know this is difficult because it’s all… we are always behind when we come in after the Republicans, because people are like, okay, you better take care of prices now. Well, we’ve got to take care of a war we didn’t even start first, right? We are always fixing what that they have, undone. But these young folks are not going to wait for us to, you know, to take our time. They want to see action now, and we need to produce action.
Jen Rubin
What are the major issues on a policy basis coming forward for Missouri? In Iowa, for example, they’ve had a cancer crisis, in part because of water. pollution and water degradation. What are some of the major issues that Democrats have to focus on in Missouri?
Jess Piper
Funding education is the first thing, and our… we have to worry about our water, too, because Iowa water doesn’t stay in Iowa, right? It goes out into the entire country. But in education, we are 49th in teacher pay, 48th in educational funding. I just saw that they are wanting… they’re talking in Jefferson City about consolidating every district in Missouri into 60 school districts, which would mean, for instance, my child would be on a bus for an hour. one way each day, right? To consolidate like that. So, that’s what voters want to see. I have never knocked a rural door. I can… they can be the most rabid Republicans behind the door, but they will never say, I want to defund my local school. Ever. They will also never say, I want a data center in my backyard, which is another big thing, because they’re even coming to my community three. are talking about that. And then getting the economy, you know, back where it should be, making folk… making sure that folks can afford their rent, afford childcare, find childcare. But I’d say education is number one.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Do you think this is going to register with Republicans? You mentioned that the new Speaker of the State House seems to still be on the abortion, but they can read the polls, they see the results. Do you think any of them are going to get a clue?
Jess Piper
It’s funny, because the Missouri Independent ran a piece yesterday talking about Republican leaderships, and the thing they said is, we may have to listen. I… Really? I was, I was laughing so hard at that, because it’s like, you’re right, they looked around and go, wait. We haven’t listened. Well, no kidding, you haven’t. And for years, we have told you what you are doing is unpopular because our ballot, our very progressive ballot admission, you know, initiatives pass. Every single time. Jim, we didn’t have anyone to vote for, so people would say, why are you voting for Republicans? Because there was no one on the ballot! But guess what happens when we’re on the ballot? They are paying the price, and I’m telling you, if they bring abortion back up in January, they’re toast. I mean, it’s just enraging to people. We’ve already done it twice. Don’t do this again.
Jen Rubin
What’s your advice in our final moments for the Democrats who just got elected? Someone made the smart comment that voters are renting Democrats. They’re not buying them yet. So what we should say to those people who have just been elected?
Jess Piper
I think that’s very true, but I think, and this is what I’ve always said, when I look at my state. it’s hard for me to, you know, pull any more blue voters out of the cities, out of Kansas City, you know, St. Louis, Columbia. go into those rural spaces where you saw a 15-point, 20-point margin and shift, and talk to those people. There was a study done saying that 80% of rural people in this last cycle did not have a face-to-face conversation with the candidate.
Jen Rubin
Yeah.
Jess Piper
We got texts, we got emails, we got some mail. I’ve lived in my farmhouse for a decade, and not once has anyone ever knocked on my door. But I’m telling you, you come back to these spaces that we have avoided for so long, and you’re gonna bring along this huge coalition that is going to make the top of the ticket winnable for a long time. So come back into these spaces, and I promise people are ready and willing for the message.
Jen Rubin
Well, Jess, congratulations. Your hard work has paid off. People have to understand, you gotta do the work. Jess has been at this for years. and you win one election, one race at a time, moving the margins. Congratulations, Jess, and congratulations to your candidates, your volunteers. I know there’s an army behind you, it’s not just Jess.
Jess Piper
It’s not just me, and we have been here… there have been Democratic organizers in rural spaces since, you know, since we’ve had political parties, and I’m so grateful to them, and I’m so grateful to you for constantly letting me come on here and talk about places that people have forgotten. Thank you so much.
Jen Rubin
It is absolutely our pleasure. Congratulations. Try to get some rest. You must be exhausted. I was kidding with someone, I said… I kept saying before the election. I’ll take a nap after the election. Now I’m too excited to take a nap. Jess, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you for all you do. We’ll look forward to seeing how all this progresses and watching the rest of Missouri turn blue.
Jess Piper
Thank you.
