JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With two seats previously vacated by Republicans left empty by Gov. Jay Nixon, the second-term Democrat had effectively stripped his Republican rivals in the General Assembly of their veto-proof majority.

But with a special election for the three empty House seats now set for August 3, Republicans could have it back in time for the September veto session.

Two seats – the 120th District vacated by Rep. Jason Smith of Salem when he went to Congress, and the 151st vacated by Rep. Dennis Fowler when he accepted Nixon’s nomination to the Board of Probation and Parole – were held by Republicans, while the third – the 67th, held by Rep. Steve Webb who resigned amid a criminal probe – was held by a Democrat. Republicans currently hold 107 of the 163 seats in the Missouri House of Representatives, two short of the 110 required for a veto-proof majority.

House Minority Leader Jacob Hummel, D-St. Louis, said he believes Nixon did what he thought was right on behalf of the people living in the open districts – despite the potential political damage.

“Of course I would have liked to have not had a veto-proof Republican majority for veto session,” he said. “But, the people of those districts didn’t have representation. Personally, would I have liked to have not had them here to vote? Absolutely. But at the same time, those people deserve representation like my constituents do.”

The announcement came amid a legal battle with a group of citizens in Smith’s former district critical of the governor for not acting more quickly to call a special election there, more than seven months after Smith was sworn-in.

While his Friday announcement included a call to fill in all of the vacancies in the House, it excluded a vacancy in the state Senate. Ryan McKenna, of the 22nd Senatorial District, left the post when Nixon appointed him director of the Missouri Department of Labor.

Ed Martin, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, was critical of the omission. “Those citizens deserve their duly elected constitutional representation sooner rather than later,” he said in a statement.