Author: Mark Holguin

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his re-election campaign.

Ashcroft was first elected to the statewide post that monitors elections, securities and libraries in 2016. He’s running against Democrat Yinka Faleti, who recorded an episode of Politically Speaking earlier this year.

Since the four other Republicans running for statewide offices either ascended to or were appointed to their posts, Ashcroft is the only GOP hopeful running for a second term in the office he was elected to in 2016.

Here’s what Ashcroft discussed during the show:

• The complexities of overseeing elections during the COVID-19 era, which included having to move this year’s slate of municipal contests to June.
• A new law that expands absentee and mail-in voting this year. Ashcroft explained why he opposed the measure.
• Whether there should be changes to the ballot initiative petition process, specifically if there should be a higher threshold for constitutional amendments to go into effect. Currently, constitutional amendments only require a simple majority to pass.
• Some of the non-election parts of his job, including regulating securities and helping out local libraries.

Ashcroft is the son of John Ashcroft, who is the only Republican to ever be elected to two consecutive gubernatorial terms in office, and who also served as a U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General.

Jay Ashcroft first ran for office in 2014, where he lost to Democrat Jill Schupp in the race for the 24th District Senate seat. He came back two years later and won a competitive GOP primary before defeating Robin Smith by a wide margin to become secretary of state.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jay Ashcroft on Twitter: @jayashcroftmo

“There’s No Crying Over Me Either” by American Wrestlers

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt was one of three statewide officeholders appointed to their roles by Gov. Mike Parson. He took over for Josh Hawley after Hawley won his U.S. Senate race in 2018.

Schmitt joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about the work he’s done to combat violent crime and expand testing of sexual assault kits, his lawsuits against China and the Affordable Care Act, and how Donald Trump’s margin of victory might impact his race.

You can find an episode with Schmitt’s Democratic opponent, Rich Finneran, here.

Here’s some of what Schmitt discussed on the podcast:

• How his partnership with federal prosecutors known as Safer Streets will reduce violent crime in St. Louis and Kansas City. “For witnesses to come forward, they got to know that you’ve got prosecutors lined up, that when they charge this case, they’re actually going to move forward and they can get convictions,” he said.
• He defended his efforts to intervene in the case against Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who have pleaded not guilty to two low-level felonies after pointing guns at protesters on their street in June. Though Schmitt is not their attorney, he has filed a motion to have the case dismissed, because he said, “I think it’s a very dangerous precedent that people across the state or in the city of St. Louis could feel that they would potentially go to jail for exercising their fundamental right of self-defense.”
• He’s paying close attention to the 15th Senate District race between incumbent Republican Andrew Koenig and former state Rep. Deb Lavender. It would be bad for St. Louis County, he said, to not have Republican representation in a supermajority Republican chamber.

Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Jason on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Eric Schmitt on Twitter: @eric_schmitt

Music: “Training Montage” from the Rocky IV soundtrack, by Vince DiCola

Back in 2014, after the police killings of Michael Brown Jr. in North St. Louis County and VonDerrit Myers Jr. in South St. Louis City, the St. Louis University Clock Tower became a site for Occupy SLU: six days of teach-ins, community conversation, and an occupation by community activists and students, which resulted in the creation of 13 Clock Tower Accords to advance racial equity at the school. This year, after a grand jury in Kentucky declined to indict three Louisville police officers for shooting and killing Breonna Taylor, students gathered at the Clock Tower again to hold a vigil for Breonna Taylor and make new demands to change culture and policies at St. Louis University. On this bonus episode, we’ll hear from three students who organized direct actions and a new list of demands to advance racial equity at St. Louis University.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. He joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jaclyn Driscoll and Eric Schmid to talk about the closely watched congressional race in Illinois’ 13th District, which includes part of the Metro East. This year’s contest is a rematch of 2018’s, when Davis narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan by 2,058 votes.

Here’s what Davis discussed on the show:

• The Affordable Care Act and how he would address holes in the nation’s health care system that have been exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
• His personal experience with COVID-19 and the national response to the pandemic. Davis also discussed what he’d like the government to do to better prepare for future pandemic threats once the virus is under control.
• The cost of attending college and ways he sees to alleviate the large amount of student loan debt.

Davis was first elected to the U.S. House in 2012 after working for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus for more than a decade.

Londigran is slated to appear on Politically Speaking this month.

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Eric Schmid on Twitter: @EricDSchmid

Follow Rodney Davis on Twitter: @RodneyDavis

Music: “On The Loose” by Europe

U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. The Ballwin Republican talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about her competitive race for reelection against state Sen. Jill Schupp.

Wagner represents Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District, which takes in portions of St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties.

Her contest against Schupp is considered one of the more competitive House matchups in the nation, with some political prognosticators signaling the race is a tossup. You can listen to Schupp’s Politically Speaking episode here.

Here’s what Wagner had to say on the show:

• The 2nd District, which was previously a Republican stronghold, has become much more competitive in the era of President Donald Trump. She also discussed whether Trump’s sagging poll numbers will make her reelection bid against Schupp more difficult.
• While House members do not vote on Supreme Court nominees, Wagner provided her opinion about Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
• Stalled efforts to pass a new stimulus bill to deal with the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus. Wagner voted for a number of pieces of legislation that sought to deal with the economic and health care impacts of the virus.
• America’s future involvement in Afghanistan. Wagner’s son Raymond serves in the Army, and Wagner is a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Wagner has been a prominent figure in Missouri Republican Party politics for years. She served as chairwoman of the state GOP in the 2000s and played a major role in Roy Blunt’s successful bid for the Senate in 2010. President George W. Bush appointed Wagner ambassador to Luxembourg in 2005.

Wagner took the plunge into electoral politics in 2012 when she ran to succeed Todd Akin in the 2nd Congressional District. Eight years ago, that district leaned decidedly Republican, and Wagner had little trouble dispatching Democratic opponents in 2014 and 2016.

But things changed in 2018 when Wagner ran against Democrat Cort VanOstran. Even though VanOstran did not have the crucial financial backing of groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he came within about 4 percentage points of unseating Wagner.

This time around, Schupp does have the backing of outside Democratic groups that are spending prodigiously on her behalf. Republican groups are also helping Wagner, marking the first time that national parties have gotten involved in a local GOP congressional race since the 2008 election in the now-defunct 9th Congressional District.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Ann Wagner on Twitter: @AnnLWagner

Music: “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor