JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Following the election, there is new leadership in Missouri’s upper chamber, making history in the Show Me State.

For years, gridlock has halted the Senate, even stopping some legislation from moving forward, but the new Senate president pro tem said she wants an upper chamber that works in harmony and revolves around respect.

Republican Cindy O’Laughlin was chosen by her Republican colleagues earlier this month to hold the highest-ranking job in the upper chamber. The new leader of the Senate is tasked with assigning bills to committees and keeping decorum.

“We’ve all committed to starting over, and I’m willing to do that, as long as it truly means starting over,” O’Laughlin said. “We don’t have to always focus on the 20% of things that we just can’t seem to find a path; let’s look at the other 80%.”

O’Laughlin, from Shelbina, owns a trucking and concrete business with her husband in northeast Missouri and is now the first woman to ever hold the position of president pro tem.

“One of the first things I’ll do is get all the women of the Senate together because we have things in common, things we would like to do,” O’Laughlin said. “Even though we aren’t on the same side, so to speak, we do have the same interests, and there are things we can do together.”

She said working in a largely male-dominated field and raising four sons helped her learn to manage people.

“I kind of know how women think and weigh things out and how they come to a decision which is different than men,” O’Laughlin said. “I think in the business that we’re in, we’re just trying to do basically a lot of the same things that I’m doing here. Make a plan, get everybody informed of the plan, and get everyone to execute the plan.”

Following the election earlier this month, the number of seats Republicans and Democrats hold in the Senate remained unchanged. The GOP will have 24 of the Senate’s 34 seats. This means Republicans will enter the legislative session with supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Newly-elected Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-Affton, is excited for what this history-making moment means for the upper chamber.

“Sometimes, women can do things a little bit differently than men,” Beck said. “They don’t let some other things get in the way in the decision process.”

He agrees the Senate is a different ballgame and hopes this year compromise prevails.

“We always have to keep in mind the Senate technically is 34 individuals on an island, and they all have the power, and any given day, one senator could be in the minority,” Beck said. “We’re not here just to produce a bunch of legislation; we’re here to look at legislation and vet it and make sure it looks good at the end of the day.”

Gov. Mike Parson said he hopes this new leadership leads to a productive year. After session ended in May, he said the actions and behaviors of some senators left him disappointed.

“Most certainly she has her hands full,” Parson said. “Anytime you’re the president of the Senate, there’s a lot of moving parts. The one advantage I would say that she has it’s a non-political year. Everybody’s not running for office, so things should settle down for a little bit.”

As his final term as governor comes to an end, he said he believes this could lead to the possibility of more women leading the state.

“My guess is some day that somebody is going to be sitting right behind the desk in this office and you’ll have your first female governor,” Parson said.

When senators return for session in January, the entire body will take a vote to make O’Laughlin’s title official. Until then, she said it’s about building relationships with new members and discussing priorities for her caucus.