Residents of Missouri’s 20th Senate District will have a new face representing them in Missouri’s upper chamber, as state Rep. Curtis Trent earns a promotion in a hotly contested race.
Trent beat back newcomer Brian Gelner, and with no Democrat opposition on Nov. 8, he is the presumptive winner in a district reconfigured this spring using results of the 2020 census.
The unofficial results showed Trent with 16,094 votes (58.4 percent), compared to 11,445 votes for Gelner.
“I told people as I campaigned that if they liked my performance in the House they would love my performance in the Senate,” Trent said.
Despite still being several months out from what projects to be his inauguration into the Missouri Senate in January, Trent will head back to Jefferson City sooner than expected due to Governor Mike Parson’s calling of a special session on providing Missourians tax relief.
“I’m certainly excited and supportive of that,” Trent said, regarding how he’ll be spending the remainder of the year. “And then preparing a legislative agenda for the first session. And of course I have a lot of issues that I ran on in the campaign. …I look forward to renewing my legislative agenda.”
Tuesday's primary was the first election cycle in the newly, dramatically reshaped district, consisting of Barton, Dade, Webster counties and parts of Greene County.
Trent has served in the Missouri House of Representatives in the 133rd District since 2017. Instead of running for reelection and term out in the House, he chose, along with Gelner, to pursue the seat Eric Burlison is giving up in his bid for Congress.
Meanwhile, Gelner, a beverage distributor executive based out of Republic, has never been a politician and sought to employ his experience as a businessman in Jefferson City.
Trent, born in Springfield and raised in nearby Ava, has represented Missouri 133rd House District since 2016. He has experience as a private attorney specializing in social security law and worked for U.S. Rep. Billy Long.
While born in Cape Girardeau and having spent time in other cities for work, Gelner was raised and has spent much of his career in Springfield and Southwest Missouri. He owns and operates Heart of America Beverage Company and Premium Beverage, specializing in beer and soda sales.
Concerned about the direction of the state and the country, Trent said he wanted to make a bigger impact in the state Senate than he was able to in the House. In addition to making the government more accountable, Trent campaigned on solving the teacher shortage, cutting taxes and making Missouri more attractive to businesses.
It’s unclear whether the ads Gelner ran against Trent, accusing him of not living in District 20, affected the results. Gelner’s campaign advertising consistently targeted “career politicians,” and claimed Trent met the definition.
“Every 10 years the law requires legislative districts be redrawn to reflect population changes,” Trent said, explaining the misunderstanding that potentially swayed some voters’ choices. “As a result, many legislators must move blocks or a few miles to remain in their new district, as did I.”
Gelner and Trent are the only candidates of any party filed to run ahead of the deadline for the general election in November. Trent will run unopposed by any Democrat or third party candidate, all but guaranteeing he will join the Missouri Senate in Jefferson City on Jan. 4, 2023.
