It’s been a bruising year to be a Missouri Democrat.

Even setting aside the broader tumult of Trump 2.0, life inside the Missouri Capitol has been especially unforgiving for Democrats.

After years of infighting, Senate Republicans finally learned how to work together this year. Early in the 2025 legislative session, that newfound discipline broke through longstanding gridlock and cleared the way for a slate of high-profile bills to move swiftly through the chamber.

Democrats, who hold just 10 of the Senate’s 34 seats, admit they were caught flat-footed early on, reacting too slowly to the cohesion of the GOP supermajority and squandering what little leverage they had in negotiations. And when Republican leadership needed Democratic votes on key bills dealing with utilities and license fees, and they got them with few long-term concessions.

It was a mistake that would haunt Democrats by session’s end.

In May, Republicans invoked a rarely used rule to break a Democratic filibuster, clearing the path to repeal an expansion of paid sick leave and place a constitutional amendment banning abortion on the ballot.

That steamrolling resumed in the fall, when Republicans again voted to end a Democratic filibuster — this time to advance a gerrymandered congressional map and a constitutional amendment making dramatic changes to the initiative petition process.

Emerging from the wreckage, many expected Senate Democrats to close ranks and prepare for procedural trench warfare in 2026, using the few tools available to them to slow the chamber to a crawl and exact some measure of payback.

That strategy requires party unity and coordination. Instead, with the next legislative session just weeks away and Republicans rallying behind an agenda that includes eliminating the state income tax, Democrats appear more divided than ever.

Last week, the Senate Democratic caucus split evenly over whether to keep Sen. Doug Beck of Affton as minority leader or replace him with Sen. Stephen Webber of Columbia.

Webber initially secured six votes, but a last-minute switch left the caucus deadlocked, five to five. The impasse was resolved with an uneasy compromise: Beck will remain minority leader for another year, while Webber will assume the role of leader-elect and take over in 2027 (unless the caucus changes course again).

The complaints aired during the meeting went beyond personality or ideology. Beck faced criticism over allegedly poor communication and the absence of a clear, shared strategy for a caucus with little margin for error. Ironically, the gathering had been scheduled as a strategy session for the coming year — a conversation that never happened because of the leadership fight.

So Democrats enter another session in the superminority, not only outgunned, but uncertain about how to fight back. After the meeting, the caucus put on a happy face, posting a group photo on social media pledging to focus on “lowering costs for Missouri families and making sure our state is an affordable place to live, work and raise a family.”

Beck declined to comment on the upcoming session, saying in an emailed statement that he plans to spend the holidays with family and “will be happy to talk about session once it begins.” As for what that session will look like, he added, “everyone will have to wait and see.”

For a party trying to claw its way back to relevance, waiting may be the one luxury it can least afford.