St. Charles County Missouri Democrats

Rep. Cynthia Davis challenging Sen. Scott Rupp in GOP primary
By: Mark Schlinkmann
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Davis
(UPDATED)

Cynthia Davis, who will be term-limited out of her Missouri House seat next year, will try to stay in Jefferson City by unseating state Sen. Scott Rupp in the Republican primary next August.

The outspoken Davis, who has gained nationwide attention for some of her comments, said in an interview today that she’s “a true conservative” and that “people are sick and tired of cardboard candidates.”

“I guess the best way to describe this race is I’m more like Sarah Palin and he’s more like John McCain,” Davis said, referring to the 2008 GOP national ticket.

She said “the facts are the Senate needs me.” Among other things, she said, she would be a strong anti-abortion advocate in the Senate.

“Nobody in the Senate is a true champion” on the issue, she said.

In a prepared statement, Davis said some Republican elected officials have forgotten to put the ideals of supporting the Constitution, limited government and personal responsibility ahead of their political self-interest.

“People become disillusioned because they see people run as Republicans, yet they do not adhere to the platform of being pro-life and pro-taxpayer,” Davis said. “We can change those people.”

In response, Rupp, who has held the 2nd District seat since 2006, said “my whole political career has been based on conservative beliefs.”

“If you look at the legislation I’ve passed and stood for and voted for, it’s right there,” he said.

Rupp
Rupp, who also takes an anti-abortion stance, said the use of the filibuster makes it difficult to get new abortion restrictions passed in the Senate even though there is a “pro-life majority” in the chamber.

Rupp added that Davis’ decision to challenge him in the primary was made because she was unable to get enough support to run for state auditor.

The district takes in part of western St. Charles County and all of Lincoln County.

Davis is a former O’Fallon alderman. Rupp, of Wentzville, was in the House before being elected to succeed fellow Republican Jon Dolan in the Senate when Dolan resigned to take a lobbying job.

Davis criticized Rupp for, among other things:

* Sponsoring an unsuccessful bill in 2008 aimed at removing the $500 loss limit in Missouri casinos (the limit later that year was repealed by voters after put on the ballot in an initiative petition drive funded by the casino industry.) Davis says she sees gambling as harmful to families.

Rupp said he didn’t support casinos when they were first legalized by voters years ago but that they now are one of the state’s biggest employers and Missouri needs to make the best of the situation. So, he said, he introduced his loss limit repeal measure as a way to direct extra tax revenue to early childhood education and development programs - a feature that wasn’t in the petition measure later approved by voters.

* Proposing legislation requiring insurance companies to cover therapy for children with autism. Davis said measures imposing such mandates would drive up the cost of health insurance. Rupp said ”sometimes the state just has to step in” to require needed coverage because the industry won’t do so voluntarily. Denying such coverage is “discriminatory and wrong,” he said.

* Passing legislation to restrict the use of so-called seclusion rooms by school districts after two families spoke out against their use in the Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County. The measure, approved earlier this year, requires school boards to define in a written policy their use of such rooms and restraint methods for students with behavioral problems. Davis says she opposes placing state guidelines on what local districts can do. Rupp said the measure was passed after “numerous allegations of abuse” across the state and that the new law still gives control to local school boards.

Rupp, meanwhile, chided Davis for her use of campaign money in 2004 to pay property taxes on a home in Jefferson City owned by Davis and her husband. “The big issue in the state (in the election) is going to be ethics,” Rupp said.

Davis paid a $1,000 fine to settle a state Ethics Commission finding that there was probable cause to determine she violated campaign finance laws in the incident. Davis has said she acted in good faith and had believed the expense was allowed.