Attorney General Eric Schmitt handily beat Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine during the midterm elections this week. He will replace outgoing Republican Senator Roy Blunt.
Schmitt garnered 55.5% of the vote compared to Valentine’s 42.1%, according to the Associated Press.
“Missouri is a very red state,” said Kenneth Warren, St. Louis University professor of political science. “There was no way she was going to win.”
Schmitt, who was endorsed by Trump, will, however, be more unorthodox than Sen. Blunt, according to Warren.
“Senator Blunt was quite an establishment Republican while Schmitt used to be quite an establishment Republican, but he, along with so many, have become rather bizarre going after Trump's support,” Warren told the St. Louis Record.
Despite opposition from St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove (D-Jackson County), Missourians approved Amendment 3, which legalizes the possession, cultivation, and licensed retail sale of cannabis for residents 21 and over recreationally as of Dec. 8.
“Arrests should stop and every person in Missouri over the age of 21, will have the right to possess up to three ounces of marijuana anywhere, anytime,” said Dan Viets, a Columbia attorney who serves as the Missouri state coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). “Every person over the age of 21 can cultivate up to 18 marijuana plants at a time, which is as many as 72 plants in a year. Persons who do that can give away up to three ounces at a time to any other person over the age of 21.”
The nod marks more acceptance from Midwestern states supporting legalization for adult use.
“Caregivers for medical marijuana patients who have the right to cultivate cannabis for the patients they care for now can have up to six patients per caregiver, and they can charge those people for their time, work and trouble,” Viets added.
Although the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) endorsed Amendment 3, Warren said other groups opposed it.
"It's controversial," Warren added. "Blacks, in particular in Missouri were opposed to it because they are shut out of competing for licenses and I think that's too bad. That's why Mayor Jones, for instance, was opposed."
Viets argues black people do have an opportunity to apply for a license.
"The minimum 144 new licenses that must come out are guaranteed to go to people of limited financial means, to people who've been arrested, and to people who live in a community where there's been a disproportionate number of marijuana arrests," he said. "We've done a great deal to see that those licenses go to people that include minority group members."