ProPublica is a nonprofit, investigative newsroom that exposes corruption. We report in all 50 states and partner with local newsrooms . Our work spurs real-world impact and has received numerous awards, including nine Pulitzer Prizes. How Abortion Bans Lead to Preventable Deaths How Recent Arrivals at the Border Have Changed the Country and Its Attitudes SCOTUS Justices’ Beneficial Relationships With Billionaire Donors Across the country on Tuesday, voters delivered a wave of Democratic victories, flipping seats in Congress as well as state legislatures, and weakening a number of Republican majorities. Missouri was no exception. Democrats made significant gains in the state House, picking up 16 seats, though Republicans still hold every statewide office and maintain control of the legislature. Nonetheless, the election was more than just a rebuke of President Donald Trump. It reflected a long-simmering frustration with Missouri politicians who, time and again, have sought to override the will of voters — a practice that has intensified under years of Republican control. What’s more, voters went beyond weakening the Republican majority. They approved a constitutional amendment that curtailed the powers of the legislature and shifted more authority directly to the people. Amendment 6, approved by a decisive margin, sharply limits the legislature’s ability to overturn laws and constitutional amendments enacted through citizen initiatives, and its ability to revive laws voters rejected through referendums. Missouri Republicans have only themselves to blame, according to political observers who have watched the conflict between lawmakers and voters intensify. They resisted a voter-approved Medicaid expansion, repealed paid sick leave protections and sought to reverse abortion rights. They sometimes packaged their efforts with unrelated culture-war provisions, like limiting healthcare for transgender minors, that were intended to appeal to conservative voters. Then they tried to persuade voters this summer to surrender some of their own power by changing the constitution to make it harder to pass initiatives in the first place. Voters rejected that proposal by more than a 4-to-1 margin . “I think the people of Missouri are trying to wrest control back from our legislature because our legislature at this point does not seem to really be representing the majority view in the state,” said Jayne Woods, a professor at the University of Missouri law school who has written about the tension between direct democracy and legislative power. Benjamin Singer is the co-founder and executive director of the Respect Missouri Voters campaign, which helped organize the push for Amendment 6. He said the frustration stretched back decades, including periods when Democrats controlled the legislature. He said when the campaign began organizing in late 2024, many volunteers were still angry about lawmakers’ decision in 2011 to weaken restrictions on puppy mills that voters had approved just a year earlier. The campaign, he said, had already built a substantial volunteer operation before Republican lawmakers moved in 2025 to undo voter-approved measures that were intended to mandate paid sick leave and protect abortion rights. Respect Missouri Voters ultimately gathered enough signatures to put Amendment 6 on the ballot, seeking not only to protect the initiative process but to strengthen the electorate’s power over the legislature. With the passage of that amendment, lawmakers now must get 80% support in both the House and Senate before they can propose changing or repealing measures enacted through citizen initiatives, or move to revive laws voters rejected through referendums. Even then, voters must approve any change in a statewide election. The restriction applies to measures voters have approved since 2010, including the constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights that voters approved in 2024. Republican lawmakers pu
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