Archive for October 2024

Democrat Bethany Mann has a tough task running for Congress in Missouri’s 3rd District, which was drawn in 2022 to be favorable to Republicans.

But during an episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Mann said she’s been able to make inroads with voters who typically don’t vote for Democrats by listening to their concerns.

“And that’s why I think that running in what would normally be an uncontested seat is so important,” Mann said. “Because it allows you to have those conversations with folks, to show that you’re just not a talking figure in a suit. You’re actually going to talk to them about the issues that matter the most to their family.”

Mann’s opponent is Republican Bob Onder, a former member of the Missouri House and Senate. Onder was a guest on Politically Speaking earlier this week.

The 3rd District encompasses portions of the St. Louis metro area, including parts of Jefferson and St. Charles counties. It also features a lot of terrain in mid-Missouri, such as Boone, Callaway and Cole counties.

Mann is a scientist who ran against U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer in 2022, getting about 34% of the vote. She said she did better than a lot of Republicans expected, given the GOP tilt of the district.

While she said that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is still popular in many areas of the 3rd District, Mann said she’s able to break through when talking to those voters about issues like rising electric rates and bolstering the state’s infrastructure.

“It’s not commonplace to hear Democrats talking about those kitchen table issues, and that’s created an opportunity for populism that focuses on discontent and division to really breed and fester,” Mann said.

Against Trump tariffs

One of the key platform planks for Trump is his support for tariffs. And in the U.S. Senate race, Republican Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce have both backed placing more aggressive tariffs against China.

But Mann said she has serious doubts that bolstered tariffs will affect China.

“It’s not going to impact them,” Mann said. “When we slap a tariff on something that’s imported, what the corporation is going to do is turn around and just charge the American consumer enough so that they are making up their profit margins for that particular piece.”

Mann also isn’t a fan of a proposal to remove taxes on tips, something that both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have embraced. She said it could provoke higher-income employees to ask for payment for a service in the form of a tip, which in turn could allow people who are lawyers or accountants to evade taxes.

“The design of the plan is to dupe working-class Americans,” Mann said.

With tax cuts that Trump helped establish in 2017 set to expire next year, Mann would like to see the federal tax system restructured. Instead of placing an onus on small businesses or middle class taxpayers, Mann said she would like to see more taxation responsibility on corporations.

“I’m talking about corporations that are in excess of $100 million, so it’s not going to impact small to medium-sized business owners here domestically,” Mann said.

Support for Amendment 3

Onder and Mann are on opposite sides of Amendment 3, which would legalize abortion in the state up to fetal viability.

Onder is strongly opposed to Amendment 3 and is helping rally voters with moral objections to abortion to vote the measure down. Mann is a strong supporter of the ballot item that would repeal Missouri’s near-total ban on the procedure.

“The right to bodily autonomy and access to health care are human rights issues, and these are non-negotiable terms,” Mann said. “We don’t need to ask the state legislators permission.”

While Mann said she understand why some 3rd District voters may have religious or moral objections to abortion, that doesn’t mean it should be illegal — including in the case of rape and incest.

“I grew up in the pro-life movement. My mom worked at crisis pregnancy centers. I know all the talking points. I also understand folks who do have that deep respect and regard for life, and I don’t think that this is in conflict with it,” Mann said. “I think that providing people medical care and the freedom to make their own choices is aligned with biblical values, if that’s where they’re coming from. And that health care access saves lives.”

Sixteen years ago, Bob Onder lost a bitterly contested Republican congressional primary to now-retiring Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.

Since that time, Onder’s political trajectory took plenty of twists and turns — including becoming a key member of state Senate Republicans who openly fought with GOP leadership. But after beating his former Senate colleague Kurt Schaefer in an August primary, Onder could be on his way to Washington next year as Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District representative.

“At the end of the day, I think our conservative message, our America First message, did break through, and the voters decided by a healthy margin to choose me as the Republican nominee,” Onder said on an episode of the Politically Speaking Podcast. “Forty-seven percent of the vote in a seven way race is not bad.”

Onder is taking on Democrat Bethany Mann to represent the 3rd District, which is Republican-dominated and includes parts of the St. Louis area and portions of central Missouri. (Mann recorded an episode of Politically Speaking that will air later this week.)

If he’s elected, Onder said he would like to serve on the Ways and Means, Education and Workforce or Judiciary committees. Onder is a physician and also has a law degree.

“If we get that so-called trifecta, the presidency, the House and the Senate, in the first 100 days, we’re going to have an agenda to secure the border and an agenda to renew the 2017 Donald Trump tax cuts,” Onder said. “We need to have an agenda to restore sane energy policy and reassert strength abroad and I think we’re going to be united on that.”

Immigration focus

Onder also said that he would like to be involved with efforts to curtail illegal immigration. During his single term in the Missouri House, Onder sponsored a bill then-Gov. Matt Blunt signed that, among other things, banned sanctuary cities and trained the Missouri Highway Patrol to enforce immigration laws.

He wants to tighten the asylum process.

“It is not our job as the United States of America to take everyone who doesn’t get along with their government,” Onder said. “This world is full of totalitarian regimes, some of which are quite brutal. We cannot take every person from all of those countries.”

Ukraine and Israel aid

One of the other issues that Onder could confront in Congress is whether to continue to provide military aid to Ukraine.

“There’s no question that the aggressor, the bad guy, is Vladimir Putin and Russia,” Onder said.

But he also said that the conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and that he supports Trump’s aspirations to negotiate an end to the war if he’s elected.

“Do I want to abruptly cut Ukraine off? No,” Onder said. “But I think it’s going to take a strong leader in the White House to negotiate a settlement, and I think that can be done.”

Asked whether Republicans should pressure Israel to purchase most or all of its weaponry it gets from the United States, especially when GOP lawmakers have argued Ukraine aid is a waste of money and energy, Onder replied: “I think perhaps the thing that makes Israel different is that they are really one of the only actual democracies in the Middle East.”

“They need to carry their own weight to the extent that they can afford,” Onder said. “The weaponry that we are capable of selling them, they ought to buy it.”

Abortion impact

Onder will be on the general election ballot with Amendment 3, which legalizes abortion in the state. Some Republicans have said they expect that measure to pass — especially since supporters are vastly outspending opponents.

If that happens, Onder said two factors will contribute to the outcome: The fact that voters can approve constitutional amendments with a simple majority and ballot summary language he said is favorable to Amendment 3 supporters.

“I think if Amendment 3 passes, it will be a combination of really bad structural problems we have here in the state of Missouri,” Onder said.

Still, Onder said the amendment may not be approved. He pointed to 2006, when anti-abortion rights activists nearly defeated a measure enshrining protections for stem cell research.

“I think it will be very close, and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to defeat that really horrible law,” he said.

For several decades, Ray Hartmann was a regular on the Nine Network’s Donnybrook where he often clashed with other St. Louis journalists about local issues.

He also started the Riverfront Times, which regularly took a contrarian view about politics and culture in the St. Louis region.

Earlier this year, Hartmann announced he was leaving the journalism world to take on U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin. And on an episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Hartmann made the case that he would be a more present and effective legislator for the 2nd Congressional District, which includes a large swath of the St. Louis region.

“Our politics are broken, and Congress is broken,” Hartmann said. “And I’ve been in the public eye for a long time, and I just felt this was the time to step up.”

Hartmann is particularly critical of Wagner on abortion rights. Wagner has said she is opposed to abortion except for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Hartmann is supportive of abortion rights and added he would vote to legalize abortion everywhere up to fetal viability — which is usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

“I believe very strongly that we need Congress to restore Roe v. Wade protection to all women in our country,” Hartmann said.

He also said that Wagner and other abortion opponents are misrepresenting Amendment 3, which would place protections for abortion rights in the Missouri Constitution. Hartmann said nothing in the measure would “legalize abortion up until birth,” but the procedure would be available after viability in the case of a catastrophic pregnancy complication.

“It’s so ridiculous to even talk about that, that somehow somebody should be able to walk in at 37 or 38 weeks and say, ‘They changed their mind.’ Of course not,” Hartmann said. “I absolutely believe that past fetal liability, the only possible reason to talk about this is the health or life of the mother, or I should maybe add if the fetus is actually dead.”

Agreement on Ukraine and Israel

While Wagner and Hartmann diverge on a multitude of issues, Hartmann said he’s generally in agreement with the GOP congresswoman that the United States should continue to provide military aid to Ukraine.

“We don’t really differ on that,” Hartmann said.

He also supports providing military assistance to Israel, though he added that the United States should continue to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to end his country’s war in Gaza.

“I do not think support for Israel and the Jewish people should be conflated with support for Bibi Netanyahu, because I think he is a bad actor,” Hartmann said. “I don’t think there should be an arms embargo at all, but we need to take a leadership role as best we can and use our leverage to bring a cease-fire and to bring the end of what’s happening in Gaza.”

Hartmann said he opposes GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposals to place tariffs on imported goods. He said those tariffs will ultimately be passed down to consumers.

“We saw what happened with farmers the last time during the Trump administration, where basically the Chinese responded with basically trade war against our farmers,” Hartmann said.

Hartmann has also been critical of how Trump has talked about illegal immigration, specifically when he said it was “poisoning the blood” of the nation.

“Talking about immigrants poisoning the blood of our people, that is straight out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook,” Hartmann said. “And I think one of the problems we have is the xenophobic violent rhetoric, and all this talk about rounding up millions of people and deporting them, to me, has so coarsened our political discussion.”

Could the 2nd Congressional District be competitive?

Before 2022, Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District was by far the most competitive in Missouri. And it still is, especially since the other seven congressional districts are either safely Republican or safely Democratic.

But because of the addition of Franklin and Warren counties, the 2nd District leans much more to the GOP than it did during the 2010s. And the part of St. Charles County in the district also tilts heavily toward Republicans.

Still, Hartmann said backlash against Trump and restrictive abortion laws could accelerate the drift of western St. Louis County toward Democrats. St. Louis County makes up most of the district’s population.

“In a district that’s largely made up of St Louis County voters, there will be record turnout,” Hartmann said. “Because in a red state, going to the ballot box is the only way that women and men can protect reproductive freedom.”

For Republicans like Missouri Congresswoman Ann Wagner, intraparty rancor was a recurring theme throughout the past two years in the U.S. House.

Because of the party’s majority being fairly small and Democratic control of the Senate and the White House, House Republicans weren’t able to accomplish many of their priorities. But throughout the tumult, Wagner said on the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, she’s been able to get things done both on the House floor and on the Financial Services Committee.

She noted her advocacy for Boeing, one of the St. Louis region’s biggest employers, and getting a bill passed to pare down the backlog of rape kit processing around the country.

“There are ways to get things done in a divided government,” Wagner said. “I do reach across the aisle. I believe that I am part of the governing portion of this House.”

Wagner is running for a seventh term against Democrat Ray Hartmann, who will appear on Politically Speaking this week.

Whether Republicans maintain their slim majority in the House is unclear. Some of the seats that the GOP captured in 2022 were in fairly Democratic states like New York and California, places that are expected to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5.

While Wagner expects the GOP to still be in charge of the House, she doesn’t expect that the majority will be particularly large. She added that she hopes that having only a small majority won’t empower people in her caucus who constantly clash with leadership — like Matt Gaetz of Florida or Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

“We do have some renegades in the Republican conference that may be doing certain things for clickbait and not necessarily to be representing their constituents or being a part of a team.”

Wagner backs Ukraine and Israel

One of the areas where Wagner stood out from much of the GOP caucus is her continued support of providing military aid to Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Wagner voted for a foreign aid bill that much of Missouri’s Republican House delegation opposed. Not only does Wagner continue to support sending what she called “lethal aid” to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, she would like to set the country up to eventually join NATO.

“I believe one day, hopefully, when Ukraine is safe and sovereign and rebuilt once again, they can be a part of our NATO alliance also,” Wagner said. “And in fact, we’ve only grown NATO. I think Putin felt that he was going to be able to fracture it. And what we did was even grow it with Sweden and Finland, which are right along the Russian border line.”

Wagner said she trusts Donald Trump to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, even though the GOP presidential nominee and his allies have lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for asking the United States to provide aid to the beleaguered country.

In fact, when Wagner posted a picture of her with Zelensky on the social media platform X, she faced a torrent of criticism from fans of Trump.

“I do trust that Donald Trump is going to end this war. He will,” Wagner said. “Don’t know what he has in mind in terms of negotiating that. But again, overwhelming force and diplomacy will be a part of it.”

Wagner has also been a consistent supporter of providing military aid to Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks. When asked if the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could lead to an end to the yearlong conflict, Wagner said that’s primarily up to Hamas.

“We know that Qatar is harboring Hamas leadership that funds a lot of these horrible atrocities that are going on,” Wagner said. “Will they send in someone new, a new leadership network, or is Qatar going to work with us to make sure that that does not happen?”

Backing Trump

In 2021, Wagner voted to sustain President Joe Biden’s wins in Pennsylvania and Arizona — breaking with other Missouri Republicans. She also was critical of how Trump acted during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But Wagner is strongly supporting Trump’s reelection bid, contending that the nation was better off under his economic and foreign policy.

“Were you better under the policies of Republicans and Donald Trump or better under the policies of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden?” Wagner said. “I’m telling you the answer is no. Everywhere I go in this district, people are struggling to pay their bills. It’s the cost of living, it’s a cost of groceries, it’s a cost of gas, it’s inflation.”

While Wagner’s district is GOP leaning thanks to the addition of Franklin and Warren counties during redistricting, it’s possible the St. Louis County portion could continue to get more Democratic. Western St. Louis County is full of college-educated white voters, some of whom have been drifting away from the GOP since Trump came into office.

Wagner, though, is hoping her constituents “go back to some of those policies, to that peace and prosperity that we had some four to five years ago.”

For many close observers of Missouri politics, David Wasinger’s win in a crowded Republican primary for the chance to succeed Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe was something of a surprise.

The St. Louis County attorney narrowly edged state Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, who had nabbed a slew of endorsements and raised a substantial amount of money. During an episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Wasinger attributed his win to something unusual: his 2018 loss in a Republican primary for state auditor.

Even though he fell short to eventual primary winner Saundra McDowell, Wasinger said that campaign gave him a good perspective on what he needed to do to win in a crowded statewide race. And it ensured he had a solid base of supporters from all over Missouri.

“I would not have been able to run for lieutenant governor on this shorter ramp-up period of time unless I had run for state auditor,” Wasinger said. “So I honestly, whether it’s fate, or I think the good Lord looks over you, and this is what he saw as my calling. So it works out in mysterious ways, and this was the path that I’ve been given.”

If he’s elected over Democrat Richard Brown, Wasinger will be the first lieutenant governor since Mel Carnahan to serve without prior experience in the Missouri Senate. His only experience in public office was when he served on the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

Wasinger said his lack of state government elected experience could give him a better chance to forge relationships with the often fractured GOP caucus.

“I am not a career politician. I’m an outsider that is coming into Jefferson City with no preconceived notions,” he said.

And while he said he doesn’t know Kehoe, the GOP nominee for governor, that well, Wasinger said he’s confident that he’d be able to develop a good working relationship with him if they’re both successful on Nov. 5.

“I intend on working to the extent where we’re trying to move these big conservative ideas,” Wasinger said.

Protecting seniors

One of the duties of the lieutenant governor is to be an advocate for Missouri’s seniors. Wasinger said he would like to use that to hold senior living facilities accountable.

He said his mother had a bad experience in a senior living facility, something Wasinger said is not uncommon.

“If you have someone with memory care issues who does not have an advocate, I can only imagine what’s taking place in some of these senior care facilities,” Wasinger said. “So I intend on examining that. and I will be an advocate for those seniors that are not being taken care of.”

Wasinger also said he plans to get the word out about a senior property tax freeze program that’s been rolled out in a number of Missouri counties. That includes St. Louis and St. Louis County.

“They’re having to sell their homes because they can’t afford the insurance and the property taxes,” Wasinger said. “So keeping these good folks in homes that they’re comfortable with is very, very important to me as well.”

As lieutenant governor, Wasinger will serve on the Missouri Housing Development Commission – which awards state low-income housing tax credits. While political controversy over that incentive lessened in recent years, Wasinger said he wants to make sure that tax credit is being used in a cost-effective and impactful manner.

He said he plans to talk with state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick about the low-income housing tax credit, especially since the GOP official helped usher in changes to the program.

“I intend on sitting down with Auditor Fitzpatrick and others and drilling through to make sure these tax credits are being used in the most efficient way,” Wasinger said.

Brown, Wasinger’s Democratic opponent, was a guest on Politically Speaking earlier this year. You can listen to his episode here.