1980Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
1980 election for Missouri Senate District 21
Missouri State Senate · Missouri
James Mathewson (D) won with 55.8% of the vote, defeating Don Shackelford (R) by 11.6 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
James MathewsonDemocrat · winner
55.8%27,273
Don ShackelfordRepublican
44.2%21,586
48,859 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET