Are you looking for a nonpartisan voter guide for the Roy Blunt vs. Jason Kander Senate race? One that will give you an accurate, no-spin comparison of the candidates’ positions on key issues? Our Campus Election Engagement Project is a national nonpartisan initiative working to increase student electoral participation. At the request of the schools we work with, we’ve created concise nonpartisan candidate guides for the presidential race, for the importance of the 2016 election on future Supreme Court decisions, and for 20 Senate and Governor’s races, including this Senate race. Our lead researcher spent 19 years as a senior editor at Encyclopedia Britannica, and we invite readers to share this and our other guides as widely as possible
So here are the issue-by-issue stands for Roy Blunt vs. Jason Kander. Visit our Nonpartisan Candidate Guides home page to find links to all our other guides, including the Missouri Governor Guide, with most available in both online/mobile friendly and printable PDF formats.
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Abortion: Should abortion be highly restricted?
Blunt: Yes
Kander: No
Campaign Finance: Do you support the DISCLOSE Act, which requires key funders of political ads to put their names on those ads?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Campaign Finance: Support Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allows unlimited independent political expenditures by corporations and unions?
Blunt: Yes
Kander: No
Climate Change: Believe that human activity is the major factor driving climate change?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Climate Change: Should government limit the levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Contraception: Should employers be able to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if they disagree with it morally?
Blunt: Yes
Kander: No
Economy: Support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Financial Regulation: Support the Dodd-Frank Act, which established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and increases regulation of Wall Street corporations and financial institutions?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Gay Marriage: Support gay marriage?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Gay Rights: Should transgender individuals have the right to use public bathrooms of their choice?
Blunt: Unclear on issue itself, but opposes Obama administration ruling on it.[1]
Kander: Yes
Gun Control: Support more restrictive gun control legislation?
Blunt: No
Kander: Supports expanded background checks.
Healthcare: Repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare?
Blunt: Yes
Kander: No
Healthcare: Did you support shutting down the federal government in order to defund Obamacare in 2013?
Blunt: Voted for some of the resolutioms that triggered it. Later supported ending it.
Kander: No
Healthcare: Should Planned Parenthood be eligible to receive public funds for non-abortion health services?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Immigration: Support the DREAM Act, which would allow children brought into the country illegally to achieve legal status if meet certain conditions? [2]
Blunt: No[3]
Kander: Yes
Immigration: Should America’s 11 million undocumented residents have an earned path to citizenship?
Blunt: Opposed bipartisan Senate bill to create an earned path. Said needed to first secure borders.
Kander: Yes, although opposed Obama working toward this by executive order.
Iran: Support the US-Iran treaty that limits Iran’s nuclear capability in return for lifting economic sanctions?
Blunt: No
Kander: No
Iraq: Should the US recommit significant additional ground troops to Iraq to combat the success of ISIS?
Blunt: Will not rule out sending ground troops to Iraq, “if there is an end goal in mind.”
Kander: Only as last resort. Supports engaging “militarily, economically, and even on the Internet”
Marijuana: Decriminalize and/or legalize marijuana?
Blunt: No, but voted against federal interference with medical marijuana states.
Kander: Supports medical marijuana. No clear position on recreational.
Minimum Wage: Raise the federal minimum wage?
Blunt: No. Also voted against state increase.
Kander: Yes
Prisons: Switch money from prisons to preventive measures like education and social services?
Blunt: Unknown
Kander: End “school-to-prison pipeline” and “ban the box” to increase post-incarceration opportunities.
Renewable Energy: Support government mandates and/or subsidies for renewable energy?
Blunt: No. Supports assistance for all forms of energy with no special assistance for renewables.
Kander: Yes
Social Security: Support full or partial Social Security privatization?
Blunt: Yes
Kander: No
Student Debt: Refinance student loans at lower rates, paid for by increasing taxes on high earners?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Student Financial Aid: Should federal student financial aid, like Pell Grants, be increased?
Blunt: Yes
Kander: Yes
Supreme Court: Support the Senate holding hearings to consider Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland?
Blunt: No
Kander: Yes
Taxes: Increase taxes on corporations and/or high-income individuals to pay for public services?
Blunt: No. Signed Americans for Tax Reform Pledge to oppose “any and all” tax increases to raise revenue.
Kander: Unclear. As legislator, focused on balancing budget without raising taxes.
Voting Rights: Support stricter voting rules such as voter ID requirements or reduced registration times, even if they prevent some people from voting?
Blunt: Yes[4]
Kander: No. Has publically opposed voter ID, saying it is solving a non-existent problem.[5]
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Other senate candidates include Chris Aguayo (Veterans Party of America), Chad Koppie (Constitution Party), Kent McMillen (L), and Scott Summers (G). Due to limited space, we can’t include their positions, but invite you to check out their websites.
Created by the Campus Election Engagement Project, a non-partisan effort to help college and university administrators, faculty, and student leaders engage their schools in the election. Key sites consulted included Votesmart.org, Countable.us, Ballotpedia.org, OntheIssues.org, FactCheck.org, Politifact.com, and public candidate statements. For a guide to all races, see Vote411.org, from the League of Women Voters, and Ballotready.org.
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[1] Opposes Obama issuing Executive Order and on decision being made at federal level vs. state level. Unknown position on bathroom use itself.
[2] Need to have graduated from high school, have a clean legal record, and attend college or serve in the military.
[3] Abstained from voting on DREAM Act bill, but sought to cut funding from program, and joined lawsuit challenging Obama’s authority to enact via an Executive Order.
[4] Blunt voted for requiring photo ID for federal elections in 2006 and voted against restoring Voting Rights Act in 2015.
[5] Kander said voter ID needlessly disenfranchised people to address a non-existent problem.