Politically Speaking

Rep. Wick Thomas joins the show for the first time. The Kansas City democrat joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about their expectations for this year's session.

On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, STLPR's Rachel Lippmann and Jason Rosenbaum talk with St. Louis County Prosecutor Melissa Price Smith about she wants to reshape the office. Rosenbaum also takes a deeper look into the first few days of the 2025 legislative session. And he also talks with outgoing General Services Administration Administrator Robin Carnahan about what she learned running the expansive federal government agency.

Senator-Elect Kurtis Gregory makes his debut on Politically Speaking. The Blackburn Republican, who has served two terms in the Missouri House, speaks to St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum about his decision to enter Missouri politics, his Senate race and his thoughts on the upcoming 2025 Missouri Legislative Session.

The high-stakes primary season and a general election full of impactful ballot initiatives will shape Missouri politics and policy for years to come. And while the election wasn’t as monumental in Illinois, there were several contests that could reverberate throughout the Metro East. On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, STLPR's Jason Rosenbaum welcomes the St. Louis Public Radio’s politics team to discuss the top stories of 2024.

On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, state Rep. Kevin Windham talks about his decision to leave the Missouri House to take a job at Washington University as their assistant director for community engagement. He said salary considerations played a role, adding that he’s made roughly the same amount of money since he graduated from college. The St. Louis County Democrat represents Missouri’s 74th District, which takes in municipalities such as Pagedale, Uplands Park, Normandy, Vinita Park, Hillsdale and Velda Village Hills. He will be leaving office in January.

On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum welcomes two high-profile members of Congress from Missouri: Reps. Cori Bush and Jason Smith. Bush spoke with Rosenbaum about her time in Congress, and why she's not going to fade away from public view after she leaves office. And Smith discusses the tricky road for Republicans to expand and extend 2017 tax cuts.

Kelli Dunaway, the outgoing 2nd District St. Louis County Councilwoman, talks to Rachel Lippmann about her five years on the legislative body.

Missouri Democrats had yet another disappointing election cycle in 2024. And on the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Russ Carnahan talks about how the party is trying to rebuild over the next few years. We also talk with officials from PROMO about how the Missouri Department of Revenue made it more difficult to change a gender marker on a driver's license.

On the latest episode of Politically Speaking, state Rep.-elect Colin Wellenkamp speaks with St. Louis Public Radio about his expectations for the 2025 session including pushing for a boost in teacher pay. Wellenkamp is a Republican who was elected to represent Missouri’s 105th House District, which takes in most of the city of St. Charles. He will take office in early January.

Missouri House Representative-elect Elizabeth Fuchs joins St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg to talk about why she decided to run for the House, her desire for loud and unapologetic queer leadership in Missouri and her thoughts on issues lawmakers may address next session.

Missouri state Rep.-elect Nick Kimble didn’t have to go through an arduous primary or general election to get to Jefferson City. The St. Louis Democrat ran unopposed in the primary to succeed state Rep. Donna Baringer in Missouri’s 82nd House District, which takes in a southwest portion of the city. That basically sealed Kimble’s election since the district is heavily Democratic. But as Kimble noted on a recent episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, the 82nd District features perhaps the largest concentration of Republicans in the city of St. Louis. And that gives him a different perspective on how to represent the area in Jefferson City. “Growing up in the district, I knew a lot of those Republicans,” Kimble said. “I went to school with them. I was friends with their kids, I mowed their lawn, I delivered pizzas. So I think that helps. I consider myself a center left and moderate person. I don't go around to the fish fries or various things on the Hill in South City talking about partisan issues or partisan politics.”

We get this question a lot: Why do Missourians vote for progressive ballot items and Republican candidates? On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, we talk with political consultant and split ticket voters themselves to try and get a straight answer. STLPR's Rachel Lippmann joins the show to talk about squabbles over the St. Louis Rams settlement and we also dive into a proposal for publicly financing St. Louis County elections.

It would be an immense understatement to say that St. Louis Public Schools encountered profound challenges in the past few months. Not only has the district faced struggles providing transportation for students, but the Board of Education recently fired its superintendent. And members of that seven-person board are also eying potential school closures and difficulties recruiting and retaining special education personnel. On the latest episode of Politically Speaking, Board of Education members Toni Cousins and Matt Davis provide an in-depth look at St. Louis Public Schools’ challenges — and why political leaders need to be engaged to help mitigate them.

On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum talks with UMSL's Anita Manion about the 2024 election results in Missouri. GOP candidates won up and down the ballot. But abortion rights backers won a seismic victory with the passage of Amendment 3. Also joining the program is STLPR's Sarah Kellogg, Rachel Lippmann and Will Bauer.

On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg preview Tuesday's election. And STLPR's Abby Llorico talks with a media literacy expert about how the rise in misinformation affects how people consume political news. This episode also feature completely real (and not A.I.-generated) cameos from actor Jon Hamm and fashion icon Karlie Kloss — who both talked with Rosenbaum this week about the Nov. 5 election.

Democrat Bethany Mann has a tough task running for 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.”

Sixteen years ago, Bob Onder lost a bitterly contested congressional primary to Blaine Luetkemeyer. Since that time, Onder’s political trajectory took plenty of twists and turns — including becoming a key member of Senate Republicans who openly fought with GOP leadership. But after beating his former Senate colleague Kurt Schaefer in an August primary, Onder could very well be on his way to Washington, D.C. 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. “47% of the vote in a seven way race is not bad.” Onder is taking on Democrat Bethany Mann to represent the 3rd District, which takes parts of the St. Louis area and portions of central Missouri. Mann recorded an episode of Politically Speaking that will air later this week.

For several decades, Ray Hartmann was a regular on the Nine Network’s Donnybrook where he often clashed with other St. Louis journalists about a litany of local issues. He also started the Riverfront Times, which regularly took a contrarian view about politics and culture in the St. Louis region. But 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.”

For Republicans like Missouri Congresswoman Ann Wagner, intraparty rancor was a recurring theme throughout the past two years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Because of a fairly small majority, and Democratic control of the Senate and the White House, House Republicans weren’t able to accomplish many of their priorities. And the schisms within the House GOP became so bad that a renegade group of lawmakers teamed up with House Democrats to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. 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 House Financial Services Committee. She’s also pointed to her advocacy for Boeing, one of the St. Louis region’s biggest employers. “There are ways to get things done in divided government,” Wagner said. “I do reach across the aisle. I believe that I am part of the governing portion of this House.”

On this week’s Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, we welcome opponents of two high-profile Missouri ballot items to legalize sports betting and abortion. We’ll also examine new polling from the Midwest Newsroom and Emerson College taking the pulse of how Missourians feel about both of those issues.