Missouri's 8th congressional district

Missouri's 8th congressional district
Current Representative		Jo Ann Emerson (R)
Population (2000)	621,690
Median income	$27,865
Ethnicity	93.1% White, 4.4% Black, 0.4% Asian, 1.0% Hispanic, 0.6% Native American, 0.0% other
Occupation	36.3% blue collar, 48.0% white collar, 15.7% gray collar
Cook PVI	R+15

Missouri's 8th Congressional District encompasses rural Southeast Missouri and South Central Missouri. The district is anchored in the college town of Cape Girardeau. The district also includes the Ozark Plateau, the Lead Belt, and the Bootheel. A predominantly rural district, MO-08 is heavily Republican; George W. Bush defeated John Kerry 63% to 36% in Election 2004 and John McCain carried the district with 62% in 2008 to Barack Obama's 36%.

The district is currently represented by U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R). Emerson was first elected to the seat as an Independent in a special election in 1996 following the death of her husband Bill Emerson, a Republican who had held the seat until his death. No Democrat has held the seat in Congress in over 20 years, the last being Bill Burlison who was defeated by Bill Emerson in 1980.

Character

Missouri's 8th, which encompasses most of Southeast and South Central Missouri, is a relatively diverse congressional district. Although it is fairly conservative and Republican-leaning at the federal level, Democrats often perform well here in local and state elections. Bill Clinton, a moderate Democrat from neighboring Arkansas, managed to carry the 8th District both times in 1992 and 1996 by strong margins, but since then the district has given strong margins of victories to Republicans George W. Bush and John McCain in the past three presidential elections. The district did, however, back Democrat Jay Nixon over Republican Kenny Hulshof in Missouri's gubernatorial election in 2008. At the local level, Democrats control a majority of elected offices in Southeast Missouri. Republicans control more local offices in the more extreme-western portions of the district namely in Southwest Missouri. In presidential elections, Democratic candidates often run best in the Bootheel, which is the most impoverished region in the district (and the state, for that matter) and contains a significant number of African Americans, as well as the Lead Belt region which contains a core constituency of labor unions and mining.

The district takes in a large swath of the Bible Belt with evangelical Protestantism being the dominant religion in most counties in the district which influences many conservative voters especially on social issues like abortion and gay rights. Ethnically, it is one of the whitest districts in the state (and the nation, for that matter) and maintains a rural character where agriculture and farming are the backbone of the economy and are very important to voters in the district. Outside of the Bootheel, all counties in the district are at least 90% white. Socioeconomically, it is the poorest district in Missouri.

Past Representatives

Counties

There is a total of 28 counties included in MO-08.

2008 Presidential Election Results by County

The table below shows how individual counties in MO-08 voted in the 2008 presidential election. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) swept the district with 61.92 percent of the vote while U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) received 36.42 percent, a 25.50-percent margin of victory for the GOP.

2008 Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary Election Results by County

The table below shows how individual counties in MO-08 voted in the 2008 Missouri Democratic Presidential Primary. Former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) won a decisive victory in MO-08, carrying all 28 counties in the district by significant margins over U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois). MO-08 was her strongest showing in the state’s primary on Super Tuesday, carrying the district with over 63 percent of the vote. She received less than 60 percent in only two counties: Cape Girardeau County, home of Southeast Missouri State University, and Phelps County, home of the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR).

2008 Missouri Republican Presidential Primary Election Results by County

The table below shows how individual counties in MO-08 voted in the 2008 Missouri Republican Presidential Primary. Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) carried 25 out of the 28 total counties in MO-08 over U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) and former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts).

2008 Gubernatorial Election Results by County

The table below shows how individual counties in MO-08 voted in the 2008 Missouri gubernatorial election. Former Attorney General Jay Nixon (D) carried the district with 52.11 percent of the vote over former U.S. Representative Kenny Hulshof (R).

Largest Cities

The 10 largest cities in MO-08 are as follows.

County Incomes

Median Household Incomes

Median Family Incomes

Education

There are several public and private schools in MO-08 that can be found on each of the county's Wikipedia pages. There is also a number of post-secondary educational institutions that can be found in MO-08.

Public Universities

• Southeast Missouri State University - Cape Girardeau
  • Southeast Missouri State University-Kennett (Satellite Campus)
  • Southeast Missouri State University-Malden (Satellite Campus)
  • Perryville Area Higher Education Center (PAHEC) - Perryville (Satellite Campus)
  • Sikeston Area Higher Education Center (SAHEC) - Sikeston (Satellite Campus)
  • Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing
• Missouri University of Science and Technology - Rolla (Formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla [UMR])
• Missouri State University - Springfield (Formerly known as Southwest Missouri State University) - Located in Missouri's 7th congressional district
  • Missouri State University-Mountain Grove (Satellite Campus)
  • Missouri State University-West Plains (Satellite Campus)

Community Colleges

• Mineral Area College - Park Hills
  • Mineral Area Regional Medical Center School of Radiation Technology
• Three Rivers Community College - Poplar Bluff

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