On Tuesday, August 3^rd a Democratic primary election for a state senate seat in Missouri has become an ugly match between County Councilmember Barbara Fraser and former Representative Sam Page.  Page is using imagery from a Nintendo shooting video-game, Duck Hunt, in which he pictured Barbara Fraser’s face as the target.  (Image capture from Nintendo’s Duck Hunt game for WII.  Judge for yourself).

Page is already under fire for his time in the Missouri House when he was one of just four people – all men – to vote against comprehensive domestic violence legislation.  Then, Page refused to listen to the women of both parties who said it was important to remove the burden and protect the privacy of women seeking to escape abuse.

“I knew Sam had a terrible record when it came to domestic violence, but I never thought he’d stoop to something like this,” said County Council Chair and Democratic State Senate candidate Barbara Fraser. “There are a lot of differences between us on the issues, especially on domestic violence, health care, and standing up to Big Banks, but I guess now we can add another: I’d never make jokes about shooting my opponent as part of a campaign.”

Domestic violence has emerged as a big difference between the candidates in the campaign because Fraser is known as one of our area’s leading voices for abused women. In the Missouri House, she sponsored and passed the landmark Omnibus Domestic Violence legislation, and she sponsored and passed the law that eliminated the statute of limitations for prosecution of perpetrators of rape and sodomy.  Today, she is pushing to remove guns from the homes of those found guilty of domestic violence.

Barbara Fraser is currently Chair of the St. Louis County Council. She has served Saint Louis County for over 25 years, as Councilwoman, State Representative and University City school board member. For more information, visit www.barbarafraser.com.