Two St. Louis County Republicans lost their Missouri House races Nov. 3 as part of a statewide wave that broke the GOP's two-thirds supermajority for the first time in 14 years.

State Rep. Brad Christ fell to Democrat Matt Vitale in the 96th District, and Republican Maryellen Murphy lost the open 94th District seat to Democrat Cathy Summers. They were among 16 Republican-held seats that flipped to Democrats across Missouri, according to the Missouri Independent.

The losses carry weight beyond the two districts. Christ had been pursuing the Majority Floor Leader position, according to a pre-election analysis by The Missouri Times. His defeat ended that bid. Murphy was running to succeed her husband, James Murphy, in a seat Republicans had held.

The local numbers

In the 96th District, Vitale won 53.23% to Christ's 45.38%, with 18,426 votes reported, according to unofficial results published by the Call Newspapers. Libertarian candidate Shane Ferguson drew 1.38%.

In the 94th District, Summers took 54.10% to Murphy's 45.90%, with 14,201 votes reported. Those results remain unofficial.

St. Louis County voter turnout reached 61.43%, with 394,546 of 642,247 registered voters casting ballots, according to the Call Newspapers.

A district with a history of split-ticket voting

Christ's loss had been flagged as a possibility well before Election Day. The Missouri Times noted that voters in the 96th District backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by roughly five points in 2024 and Lucas Kunce over Josh Hawley by nearly nine, while simultaneously supporting Republican Mike Kehoe for governor by more than three points.

Christ, who was first elected in 2022, had chaired the House Emerging Issues Committee and played a role in several major negotiations, the Missouri Times reported. He also carried legislation to return control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a state-appointed board.

Vitale, a civil rights and accessibility specialist, previously worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs helping blind and visually impaired veterans. He later served as lead accessibility specialist with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, according to the Missouri Times. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) had added Vitale to its slate of supported candidates.

What the supermajority loss means

When the Missouri House convenes in January, it will seat 95 Republicans and 68 Democrats. Republicans held 111 seats entering the election cycle.

The two-thirds supermajority had been in place since 2012, the Missouri Independent reported. Republicans did not flip a single Democrat-held seat on Nov. 3.

Democrats also scored wins in places they hadn't competed in years. They won three seats in St. Charles County, where they had been shut out for 20 years, and took a seat in Cass County.

State Rep. Ashley Aune of Kansas City, the House Democratic floor leader, said on election night: "It feels really, really good to look towards the next General Assembly and not be a member of a super minority party."

What's next

Newly elected members were scheduled to gather in Jefferson City Nov. 4–5 to select party leaders. The Missouri Independent reported that candidates and incumbents on the Nov. 3 ballot had raised a combined $24.9 million since the start of 2025. Republican candidates, their affiliated political action committees (PACs) and the House Republican Campaign Committee raised $17.7 million. Democratic candidates, PACs and the House Democratic Action Fund raised $7.1 million.

Whether the shift marks a longer-term trend remains an open question. Democrats won a Missouri House majority in every election from 1954 to 2000. Republicans have won it in every election since.