Cancer diagnosis forces candidate to withdraw from Missouri state Senate race

State Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, speaks on the Missouri House floor during a May 2022 debate on an education bill. Basye says he is withdrawing from a race for Missouri Senate(Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)

A Republican state Senate candidate with a history of obscene and insulting social media posts said Thursday that he will withdraw from the race after receiving a cancer diagnosis.

Former state Rep. Chuck Basye of Rocheport made the announcement during an interview on the Wake Up Mid-Missouri show on KSSZ-FM in Columbia.

“I received a medical diagnosis a few weeks ago, right around the time I filed, and I have prostate cancer,” Basye said. “And so I’m gonna have to withdraw from the Senate race.”

Basye is the only Republican filed in the 19th Senate District, which covers Boone County. He filed on the last possible day to challenge former state Rep. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat who is the best-funded candidate for a Senate seat in this year’s elections.

Basye said he had hoped to stay in the race despite the diagnosis but that he’s learning more about his illness and wants to concentrate on treatment.

“I was gonna try and hang in there but I had another doctor who recommended an MRI and indicated additional different cancer in the same area, so I don’t know what the status of that is yet,” Basye said.

Basye’s withdrawal means the Boone County Republican Central Committee will have the ability to select a replacement for the Aug. 6 primary ballot. If he had been the incumbent, or only candidate, filing would have reopened for five days at the Secretary of State’s office in Jefferson City.

“The county committee can select somebody if they choose to get involved and we do have a young man that I’m very hopeful that he gets in,” Basye said.

The 19th District has been in Republican hands for 16 years, but redistricting eliminated heavy GOP voting areas in Cooper County. Webber won Boone County over  the current incumbent, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, in 2016, but the large Republican majority in Cooper County decided the race.

Webber has a campaign fund of more than $763,000 in his official committee and a joint fundraising PAC. That is about $300,000 more than any other candidate in a contested race this year.

After Basye announced his withdrawal, Webber posted a message of support for his recovery on social media.

“Cancer sucks,” Webber wrote. “I pray that Chuck has a speedy recovery, and my thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.”

As the interview concluded, Basye was asked if he had any comment on his penchant for lashing out at critics on social media, including questioning Webber’s status as a Marine veteran of combat in Iraq.

In one post, he demanded that Webber “show us your DD214 you f****** con artist.”

Basye said it may not have been a good idea but he was defending himself against attacks.

“It might sound childish to a lot of people,” Basye said, “but I only respond to people that hit me first.”

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