Editing Perry County, Missouri (section)

===Federal===
Perry County is included in [[MO-08|Missouri's 8th Congressional District]] and is currently represented by [[Jason T. Smith]] (R-[[Salem, Missouri|Salem]]) in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. Smith won a special election on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to finish out the remaining term of [[U.S. Representative]] [[Jo Ann Emerson]] (R-[[Cape Girardeau, Missouri|Cape Girardeau]]). Emerson announced her resignation a month after being reelected with over 70 percent of the vote in the district. She resigned to become CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative.

{{Election box begin | title=U.S. House of Representatives - District 8 – Perry County (2012)}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = '''Jo Ann Emerson'''
  |votes      = '''6,272'''
  |percentage = '''80.16'''
  |change     = +9.19
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Jack Rushin
  |votes      = 1,326
  |percentage = 16.95
  |change     = -5.89
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Libertarian Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Rick Vandeven
  |votes      = 226
  |percentage = 2.89
  |change     = +1.03
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin | title=U.S. House of Representatives - District 8 - Special Election – Perry County (2013)}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = '''Jason T. Smith'''
  |votes      = '''1,240'''
  |percentage = '''72.09'''
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Steve Hodges
  |votes      = 380
  |percentage = 22.09
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Constitution Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Doug Enyart
  |votes      = 63
  |percentage = 3.66
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Libertarian Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Bill Slantz
  |votes      = 35
  |percentage = 2.03
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Write-in candidate 
  |candidate  = Robert W. George
  |votes      = 1
  |percentage = 0.06
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Write-in candidate
  |candidate  = Thomas Brown
  |votes      = 1
  |percentage = 0.06
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin | title=U.S. House of Representatives - District 8 – Perry County (2020)<ref name="perrycountymo.us"/>}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = '''Jason T. Smith'''
  |votes      = '''7,397'''
  |percentage = '''80.82'''
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Kathy Ellis
  |votes      = 1,621
  |percentage = 17.71
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Libertarian Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Tom Schmitz
  |votes      = 134
  |percentage = 1.46
  |change     =
}}
{{Election box end}}

====Political culture====
{{PresHead|place=Perry County, Missouri|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 26, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|7,986|1,757|101|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|7,657|1,664|135|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|6,908|1,520|312|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|5,669|2,184|134|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|5,527|3,005|115|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|5,583|2,621|43|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|4,667|2,085|151|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|3,427|2,517|837|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|3,205|2,525|1,522|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|3,836|2,136|14|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|4,493|1,837|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|5,053|2,416|220|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|4,086|2,801|31|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|4,736|1,953|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|3,858|1,958|462|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|2,837|3,456|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|3,886|2,991|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|4,400|2,346|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|4,633|2,324|3|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|2,903|2,133|7|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|4,207|2,014|5|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|4,656|2,354|9|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|3,382|3,098|126|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|2,396|3,502|19|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,648|2,591|6|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|7,280|6,568|1,388|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|3,652|1,504|25|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,988|1,396|20|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1912|Republican|1,735|1,564|112|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,775|1,569|35|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|1,733|1,522|49|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|1,681|1,660|31|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|1,522|1,450|38|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|1,297|1,464|5|Missouri}}
{{PresFoot|1888|Democratic|1,198|1,283|50|Missouri}}

At the presidential level, Perry County is a reliably Republican stronghold. [[John McCain]] easily carried the county over [[Barack Obama]] in [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]], and [[George W. Bush]] carried Perry County by even stronger margins in [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]]. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Perry County was [[Lyndon Johnson|Lyndon B. Johnson]] in the landslide [[1964 United States presidential election|Election of 1964]].

Like most rural areas, voters in Perry County generally adhere to socially and culturally [[Conservatism|conservative]] principles which strongly influence their Republican leanings. In 2004, Missourians voted on [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2004)|a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman]]—it overwhelmingly passed Perry County with 85.07 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters as Missouri became the first state to ban [[same-sex marriage]]. In 2006, Missourians voted on [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)|a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state]]—it failed in Perry County with 69.45 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve [[Embryonic stem cell|embryonic stem cell research]]. Despite Perry County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing [[Populism|populist]] causes like increasing the [[minimum wage]]. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Perry County with 69.52 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 75.94 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state. During the same election, voters in five other states also strongly approved increases in the minimum wage.