Democrat Joe Pereles, left, and Republican David Gregory are running for the 15th Senate District. The West County seat is currently represented by Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Republican.
JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 A west 51黑料 County race for state Senate is drawing attention 鈥 and major spending 鈥 ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Former state Rep. , 39, faces Democrat , 71, in the contest to represent the 15th Senate District. Both are attorneys who live in Chesterfield.
The seat is currently held by Republican state Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, who is term-limited.
While Republicans are betting the district鈥檚 GOP leanings persist, Democrats are looking to build on increased suburban support in recent years to capture the seat.
The race is one of only a handful of state Senate contests considered competitive this year.
People are also reading…
Pereles is bringing together groups as disparate as labor unions and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry to support his bid.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a far-right district. There is significant bipartisan support,鈥 Pereles said in an interview. 鈥淲e think with the right candidate, we have an opportunity to flip this seat and bring some common sense down to Jefferson City.鈥
On Tuesday, Fearless PAC, which is supporting Pereles鈥 campaign, accepted a $325,000 donation from the Missouri Voter Project-State PAC 鈥 the largest check the Pereles group has received this year.
The voter project has received checks from individuals and labor unions. The largest donor to the Missouri Voter Project is the Richmond Heights-based progressive group Missouri Wins Investor Network at over $1 million.
The political action committee for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, meanwhile, announced last week that it was endorsing Pereles in the race, even as most of the group鈥檚 endorsements went to Republicans.
The chamber then spent over $24,000 on mailers supporting Pereles, the group鈥檚 only independent spending on a candidate so far in the general election.
The Republican-aligned Missouri Senate Campaign Committee, meanwhile, is out with a new ad attempting to tie the Democrat to the 鈥淒efund the Police鈥 movement and lame-duck U.S. Rep. Cori Bush.
In a statement Wednesday, Gregory said, 鈥淥ur campaign is by far the strongest and is supported by police and firefighters because they know we will fight and win against the lawless policies supported by Joe Pereles, who gave money to radical politicians like Cori Bush, and who supports the Biden-Harris agenda of illegal immigration and skyrocketing inflation that has increased the cost of everything for the people of my district including essentials like food and fuel.鈥
Federal Election Commission records show Pereles donated $210 to Bush鈥檚 campaign committee in 2021.
The Fearless PAC is attacking Gregory on Missouri鈥檚 abortion ban and voucher expansion. The PAC posted excerpts of a memo it said Gregory鈥檚 campaign accidentally posted to its website.
The memo says in part that Gregory was anticipating support from school-choice groups American Federation for Children and Americans for Prosperity.
鈥淭hey are notorious for thinking the whole district supports school choice and my district likely does not,鈥 the memo says. The memo also has a section called 鈥淪ide Step Abortion Issue鈥 that asks 鈥淒o they (voters) mind if the state senator鈥檚 position is slightly different?鈥
The 15th District has increasingly been viewed as competitive in the years since current U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt won the seat decisively in 2008 and 2012.
Democratic state Rep. Deb Lavender of Kirkwood challenged Koenig for the post in 2020, ultimately losing by 8 percentage points.
The district鈥檚 boundaries were redrawn following the 2020 U.S. Census, dropping its Democratic-leaning Kirkwood precincts and gaining land deep into Republican-leaning west 51黑料 County.
The district now includes municipalities such as Chesterfield, Wildwood, Ballwin, Manchester and Ellisville.
Find out how to register to vote, the registration deadline, where your polling place is located, what you can use as identification and more.
