Democrat Keri Ingle defeats House Speaker Jon Patterson, flips Missouri Senate seat

Democratic state Rep. Keri Ingle defeated Republican House Speaker Jon Patterson on Tuesday, flipping a Missouri Senate seat in eastern Jackson County that Republicans have held for decades.

Ingle, a former social worker from Lee’s Summit, will succeed Republican state Sen. Mike Cierpiot in the 8th District, which includes the suburbs of Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs. She won 55% of the vote on Tuesday. Her victory, along with a Democratic win in Springfield, means Republicans have lost their supermajority in the Missouri Senate.

“The people of this district have trusted me to represent them in the Missouri Senate,” Ingle said in a statement Tuesday evening. “That means I’ll have a say in decisions that affect their lives. I owe them good judgment, hard work and the willingness to stand up for them, even when it’s difficult.”

Patterson, also from Lee’s Summit, outspent every other state Senate candidate this election cycle. As of the week before the election, he had spent $2.7 million between his campaign and political action committee. Ingle’s campaign and PAC spent $616,000, according to Missouri Ethics Commission filings.

The race was one of two Senate contests Democrats targeted as potential pickups, drawing attention and financial support from partisan organizations on both sides.

“We have been working for this moment for years. First with me flipping my house seat in 2018,” Ingle told The Independent in a pre-election interview. “So it is really fun and really gratifying to be in this particular moment.”
When campaigning door-to-door, Ingle emphasized her experience as a “social worker and mom of two.”

“I am always looking out for the little guys,” she told a mom in Lee’s Summit during one evening of door knocking in late September.

Before entering the legislature, Ingle worked in child welfare for the Jackson County Children’s Division. The job revealed systemic problems, and Ingle hoped to pass legislation to address them.

Missouri Senate battleground pits Jon Patterson against Keri Ingle in Jackson County

“It is really important to me that vulnerable populations were advocated for using good, sound, evidence-based practices,” Ingle said. “A lot of times legislators have really, really great intent when they file legislation…. But intent and impact are two very different things. So it’s really important that we look at what evidence tells are the best practices instead of just like, ‘Well, this sounds good. Let’s make this a law.’”

During her time in the House, she has supported bipartisan efforts, including a bill that would create tax credit programs designed to make child care more accessible. The legislation passed the House this year but stalled in the Senate, continuing a yearslong effort to expand access to child care.

“When it comes to issues around child welfare, survivors of sexual assault and crime prevention, I work in a very, very bipartisan manner,” she said. “I want to work with anyone who is willing to move the needle on those issues and do what is right for the people of the state.”

In 2021, Ingle co-sponsored a bill with state Rep. Rudy Veit, a Republican from Wardsville, to bring more oversight to unlicensed boarding schools. The legislation was signed into law with nearly unanimous legislative support.

“I am really proud of the work that I’ve been able to accomplish as a member of the super minority in the House,” she said. “I have also been able to advocate for and get money back for my district through the budget process, so I’m really proud of that work.”

Ingle is bracing for budget battles when lawmakers return to Jefferson City in January, with the state’s revenue falling behind projections. She said she will keep a close watch on any proposed cuts to social services and education.

“The budget is going to be our biggest lift over the next couple of years,” she said. “I am going to be an advocate for the most vulnerable people in this state because their services are always the ones that are first on the chopping block.”

She pointed to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s January budget proposal, which called for cutting $80.7 million from programs serving adults with developmental disabilities. Lawmakers ultimately restored the funding after bipartisan opposition to the proposed cuts.

Before cutting funding for these programs, Ingle would rather see lawmakers scale back the MOScholars program, which provides scholarships for private school tuition and other educational expenses through state tax credits.

This year’s budget underfunds the formula that determines state aid for public schools by $190 million, and the burden is not shared equally among districts. Provisions built into the public school funding law allow some school districts to keep the amount of state aid they receive flat even as enrollment declines.

The 8th District’s largest school systems, the Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs school districts, have seen their state aid reduced by 5% to 6% this year.

The Lee’s Summit School District has projected a $7 million to $10 million revenue shortfall for the 2026-27 school year, citing reductions in state funding and changes at the local and federal levels. In September, its board voted to reverse part of a voluntary property tax rate rollback to make up for lost revenue.

“The reality is that decisions made at the county level and some by some of our elected officials in Jefferson City have created a situation where our students, our staff and our community are paying the price,” board Vice

President Erica Miller said during the meeting. “Our district has been tasked with trying to make sense of a broken system.”

Weeks later, Miller endorsed Ingle in a video posted on Ingle’s campaign social media accounts, saying Ingle “will fight for our kids, our schools and our community.”