Archive for July 2022

On the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast, U.S. Rep Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, talks about her reelection campaign in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.

Bush was elected to represent the district in 2020. It includes all of St. Louis and some of St. Louis County, and it’s the only congressional district in Missouri with a plurality of Black residents.

Bush is locked in a competitive Democratic primary with state Sen. Steve Roberts, D-St. Louis. Roberts recorded an episode of Politically Speaking that can be found here.

Here’s what Bush talked about on the show:

• Why she should be elected to another term. Bush pointed to her support of the American Rescue Plan Act, which brought back hundreds of millions of dollars to St. Louis and St. Louis County.  And she responded to Roberts’ criticism that she should focus less on activism.
• What can be done to protect abortion access if Democrats lose control of Congress.
• Why she opposed certain sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. 
• The House bill to ban assault weapons. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a vote while the episode of Politically Speaking was being recorded. Bush then expounded upon what she would want to do to restrict guns.

Bush is a native of Northwoods in St. Louis County, where her father, Errol Bush, has served as a councilman and mayor. A nurse by trade, Bush participated in the protest movement that arose after Michael Brown’s shooting death in Ferguson.

Bush first ran for office in 2016, when she lost to then-Secretary of State Jason Kander in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. She then challenged U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay in 2018 but lost by a decisive margin.

Bush, who ran a well-funded campaign, beat Clay in 2020. The win ended the Clays’ roughly five-decade hold over the 1st Congressional District seat and guaranteed that a Black woman would be elected to a Missouri U.S. House seat for the first time.

Bush is a key ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders and was a surrogate for his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. She’s also a member of a group of representatives known as “The Squad” who advocate progressive policy positions.

The winner of the Bush-Roberts contest will be likely to head to Congress next year, since the seat is heavily Democratic.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Sarah Kellogg on Twitter: @sarahkkellogg

Follow Cori Bush on Twitter: @CoriBush 

St. Louis County Councilwoman Rita Days joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Politically Speaking podcast to discuss her bid for a full four-year term to represent the county council’s 1st District, which takes in a slew of municipalities in central and north St. Louis County.

The Bel-Nor Democrat is running against Jennings Councilman Terry Wilson in the primary. Wilson’s episode of Politically Speaking is available here.

Here’s what Days discussed on the show:

• Why she hasn’t gotten along with St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. She’s served as the leader of an opposition coalition that’s been critical of Page’s administration.
• The stakes for her contest with Wilson. If she loses, Page would likely have majority support on the council if he wins reelection to a full four-year term.
• How she handled the public forum section of council meetings during debate over mask mandates. Some speakers expressed misleading or false information about vaccines or the virus.
• How the county council should spend some of the American Rescue Plan Act funds and money from a settlement over the St. Louis Rams departure.

Days is a Lincoln University graduate who won a Missouri House seat in a 1993 special election. In 2002, Days became the first Black person ever elected to the state Senate from St. Louis County. She served as a senator until term limits forced her to retire from the legislature in 2010.

After working for then-St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, Days served as Democratic director for the St. Louis County Board of Elections from 2011 to 2015. Before running for the county council in 2019, Days worked for the Missouri Housing Development Commission, which issues tax credits designed to cultivate housing for low-income people.

Days became the 1st District councilwoman in 2019, winning a special election to succeed the late Hazel Erby. She was chosen by the council to be its chair in 2021.

Since the 1st District is heavily Democratic, the winner of the Days-Wilson primary will almost certainly be elected in November to serve on the county council through 2026.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Rita Days on Twitter: @ritadays1

Terry Wilson, who is running for the 1st District St. Louis County Council seat, is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The Jennings City Councilman talked about his primary challenge against Council Chairwoman Rita Days.

Here’s what Wilson discussed on the program:

• He said he’ll be able to build more consensus on a council that’s been divided between allies and adversaries of St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. “The arguments and the dysfunction is so bad right now,” he said.
• And while Page gave Wilson his endorsement, Wilson notes that he hasn’t always agreed with the county executive’s policies. He said Page could have done a better job getting COVID-related resources to north St. Louis County.
• Wilson was supportive of mask mandates that were aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 in public indoor spaces. That proposal generated controversy among the county council and in the community.
• Planning on how to appropriate money from the American Rescue Plan Act should have occurred sooner. “I think more detail and attention and planning should have started way before an election year,” he said. “And I think a lot of this planning is coming around because there is an election year and people want to make promises to their friends.”

Wilson also served on the school board for the Jennings district. Besides his political pursuits, he works for Beyond Housing’s Pagedale Family Support Center.

Days is slated to record an episode of Politically Speaking next week to talk about her campaign for a full four-year term on the council.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Jason Rosenbaum: @jrosenbaum

Follow Terry Wilson: @TerryWilsonSTL

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page made his case for a full four-year term on the latest episode of Politically Speaking.

The Democratic official spoke about his challenging tenure as county executive. Since taking the post in 2019, Page has had to deal with contentious disputes over his COVID-19 pandemic response and an increasingly hostile county council.

Page is squaring off against Jane Dueker in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary. You can listen to her Politically Speaking episode here. The winner of the Page-Dueker contest will likely face state Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, in the November general election.

Here’s what Page discussed during the program:

• How high-profile scandals involving his appointees affect perceptions of his administration. He also responded to criticism about working as an anesthesiologist while serving as county executive. 
• His philosophy toward the COVID-19 response and how his administration would respond if there’s another surge. 
• How he would approach crime prevention if he’s given another four years in office.
• Where the county should spend the remaining federal coronavirus relief funds.
• Whether members of the county council should be paid more.

Page is a veteran on the region’s political scene. After serving on the Creve Coeur City Council, he won a hotly contested Democratic primary in 2002 for a Missouri House seat representing central St. Louis County.

Despite impressive fundraising, he lost a close statewide contest in 2008 to Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican. Two years later, then-St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, easily defeated Page in a Democratic primary for a state Senate seat.

After St. Louis Councilwoman Kathleen Kelly Burkett, D-Overland, died of cancer in 2014, Page won the seat representing central and north St. Louis County. He was selected by the council to replace Steve Stenger as county executive in 2019, then won a special election to fill out the rest of Stenger’s term in 2020.

If he wins this year, Page would serve as county executive through 2026.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Sam Page on Twitter: @DrSamPage