The school-funding debate is a central point of contrast in southwest St. Louis County's House District 96 race. Republican incumbent Brad Christ faces first-time Democratic challenger Matt Vitale, a Sunset Hills resident and father of two, who has called for changes to how Missouri pays for public education. Their disagreement also reaches school choice and special education: Christ has backed charter schools, private school vouchers and a proposal allowing individual districts to leave the county's special education cooperative.
District 96 covers Crestwood, Sunset Hills and part of Fenton. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the district leans Republican: voters backed Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the last two presidential elections but preferred Republican Mike Kehoe in the 2024 governor's race. Christ won his past two general elections by roughly 55% to 45%. The paper also reports that the district is covered by state Senate districts held by Democrats Tracy McCreery and Doug Beck, and that the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has targeted a dozen state House races it believes can flip, including four in St. Louis County.
A Challenger Built Around Accessibility and Schools
Vitale is making his first run for office after a career centered on disability rights and education access. Before launching his campaign, he worked as Lead Accessibility Specialist for the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, where he trained federal attorneys nationwide on conducting K-12 and university digital accessibility investigations, according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. He has worked in the disability field since 2015, starting at the Veterans Administration, and now works for a technology company that builds websites and mobile apps for people with disabilities, the Post-Dispatch reports.
Vitale has said he would seek changes to Missouri's school-funding formula. Lindbergh Schools, which sits within the district's broader South County footprint, offers one local measure of the funding mix: its 2025-2026 preliminary budget says state sources generate an average of 14% of the district's revenue budget. Separately, Lindbergh's budget figures put state sources at about 14% of the district's revenue. The Lindbergh Schools 2025-2026 preliminary budget provides the districtwide revenue figure. The Post-Dispatch notes that the state budget approved this year was $190 million short of full funding under the state's foundation formula, and Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed a task force earlier this year to overhaul that formula.
Christ's Record on Vouchers and Special Education
Christ, a Republican who chairs the House Emerging Issues Committee and also sits on the Special Committee on Tax Reform and the Rules Committee on Administrative Oversight during the 2025-2026 session, has said charter schools and vouchers would not hurt quality school districts and could offer better choices for children in underperforming ones, per the Post-Dispatch's reporting. That stance comes against the backdrop of Missouri Senate Bill 727, a measure concerning the MOScholars private school voucher program, according to the Missouri Senate.
Christ also backed a measure that would let St. Louis County school districts withdraw from the Special School District. Some districts, including Lindbergh, argued they could provide special education and disability services more effectively on their own; some parents questioned whether individual districts could match the current level of services for their children. Christ introduced House Bill 2933, which proposed allowing districts to opt out of the Special School District, according to the Missouri National Education Association. The bill received no floor vote, the Post-Dispatch reports.
What the funding figures show
At Lindbergh, state sources generate an average of 14% of the district’s revenue budget, according to its 2025-2026 preliminary budget. On a separate school-choice measure, the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office reports that MOScholars participation grew by approximately 370% from school year 2022-23 to 2025-26. That figure measures program participation; it does not by itself establish an effect on public-school funding. The Special School District’s funding serves more than a single district: its 2021 Public Review Committee report says the countywide tax allocation funds SSD schools, technical education schools and services for students in 22 partner districts.
The debate over the Special School District's future comes as the agency faces its own turmoil. In September, the Missouri State Auditor's Office opened a performance audit of the Special School District of St. Louis County amid a projected $75 million to $83 million budget gap for the 2026-2027 school year and public scrutiny over student restraint practices, a situation previously detailed by Hoodline. That fiscal crisis followed a districtwide salary freeze reported earlier in the year.
Utility Rates and Data Centers Enter the Race
Christ has also tried to position himself as a consumer advocate on a separate front. In September, he submitted formal comments to the Missouri Public Service Commission opposing Ameren Missouri's requested $343 million, 10% electric rate increase, arguing that infrastructure costs tied to power-hungry data centers should not be passed on to residential customers, according to the Missouri House of Representatives.
As reported by the Post-Dispatch, Vitale argues that Christ has chosen party over people by backing state GOP leaders' proposals rather than constituents' concerns. A Democratic political operative told the paper Vitale could benefit from President Trump's low approval rating in Missouri and from Christ's support for GOP initiatives. The operative also noted that most Missouri Republicans backed the state's recently failed efforts to enact a controversial redistricting map, eliminate state income taxes and make it harder for citizens to amend the constitution by petition. Political observers told the paper that voters who are not themselves on the ballot could also shape the race.
Endorsements, Fundraising and the Ballot Beyond the Two Parties
The money race favors the incumbent by a wide margin. Christ has raised nearly $300,000 and had about $210,000 on hand, compared with roughly $70,000 raised and about $40,000 available for Vitale, according to the latest Missouri Ethics Commission reports cited by the Post-Dispatch. Christ has picked up endorsements from the International Association of Firefighters, the St. Louis County Police Association, the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council and Laborers Local 110, while Vitale has backing from the National Education Association, the Sierra Club and the South St. Louis County Labor political organization, per the same reporting.
A Libertarian candidate, Shane Ferguson, is also on the ballot in District 96, according to the Post-Dispatch. The race unfolds against a backdrop of other St. Louis County fights Christ has waded into during his tenure, including his 2025 sponsorship of House Bill 495, which passed the House and would have shifted control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department from city government to a state-appointed board, a measure Hoodline covered at the time.
