Politically Speaking

St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum to talk about his first few weeks on the job.

Butler was elected to the citywide office in November 2018 after defeating longtime incumbent Sharon Carpenter in a Democratic primary. His office is responsible for issuing birth and death certificates, as well as filing real estate deeds.

Before jumping into the recorder of deeds race last year, Butler served for three terms in the Missouri House. He was a member of the House Budget Committee and captured a leadership position as the Democratic Caucus Chairman.

State Rep. Dottie Bailey joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum to talk about her first few days as a member of the Missouri House.

The Eureka Republican represents parts of St. Louis and Franklin counties, including municipalities such as Wildwood, Pacific and Eureka.

A native of Belleville, Illinois, Bailey’s professional history is in the banking industry as an accounts manager and loan buyer. She’s been active in local politics for some time, becoming a part of the St. Louis area Tea Party movement.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum as the latest guest on Politically Speaking.

The Springfield Democrat was elected as minority leader late last year, succeeding former Rep. Gail McCann Beatty of Kansas City. Quade was first elected to the House in 2016 to represent part of Springfield.

After the 2018 election cycle, Quade is the only Democrat to represent a district that’s south of Interstate 70. She’s noted that her district is relatively competitive, as much of the terrain was represented by a GOP lawmaker from 2010 to 2012.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about what to expect during the 2019 legislative session.

The Springfield Republican was elected as House speaker on Wednesday. His caucus will have a chance to accomplish a lot, since the GOP holds commanding supermajorities in both of the General Assembly’s legislative chambers.

An attorney, Haahr was first elected to his post in 2012 to represent a part of Springfield in the Missouri House. He quickly rose up the ranks, eventually being selected to chair the House General Laws Committee and being elected as House speaker pro tem.

St. Louis County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies to talk about a slew of issues affecting county government.

Clancy was sworn in last week to represent the council’s 5th District, which takes in more than a dozen municipalities in eastern and central St. Louis County.

Clancy has a master’s degree in social work and has worked for about a decade with nonprofit groups. She also has been president of the Hadley Township Democrats, which includes Richmond Heights, Maplewood, University City, Clayton and Shrewsbury.

With a revolutionary year in Missouri politics winding down, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies and Rachel Lippmann decided to reflect on what happened and why it matter.

And what better way to do that than a list of the five biggest stories of 2018?

You’ll have to listen to the final Politically Speaking to find out which event topped our list. But it’s fair to assume that the startling descent of Eric Greitens and the Missouri U.S. Senate contest made the cut.

Other developments that were contenders including the repeal of right to work, which bars unions and employers from requiring workers to pay dues as a condition of employment. And big political developments out of St. Louis County also caught the Politically Speaking team’s attention.

Senate President Pro Tem-elect Dave Schatz joins Politically Speaking to talk about issues that may arise during the 2019 legislative session.

Schatz is a Sullivan Republican who represents all of Franklin County and most of western St. Louis County. He won a contested race for president pro tem in November, meaning he’ll appoint committee chairs and direct legislation to certain committees.

Schatz’s family owns a utility contracting business. He successfully sought a vacant House seat in 2010. He then filed to run for the 26th District Senate seat in 2014, which was occupied at the time by Sen. Brian Nieves. Nieves ultimately decided against running for re-election, while prominent GOPers like former House Speaker Tim Jones and former Sen. Jane Cunningham chose not to challenge Schatz in the primary. This effectively handed the election to Schatz, since winning the Republican primary in the 26th District is tantamount to election.

Councilman Sam Page and Councilwoman Hazel Erby join the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast to talk about the tumultuous year in St. Louis County government.

Page, D-Creve Coeur, and Erby, D-University City, are the chair and co chair of the St. Louis County Council. They’ve held those positions for two years amid tensions with St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.

Since the beginning of 2017, Page and Erby have been part of a bipartisan coalition that’s clashed with Stenger on a multitude of issues. Earlier this week, the council passed a budget with roughly $35 million in cuts from what Stenger recommended. They also overrode his veto numerous times, including on removing a requirement that bidders for construction contracts be linked to apprenticeship programs.

St. Louis Alderman Terry Kennedy is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann about his 30-year tenure on the Board of Aldermen.

Kennedy represents the 18th Ward, which takes in nine neighborhoods in central and north St. Louis — including the Central West End, Vandeventer and JeffVanderLou neighborhoods. He’s planning to resign in early January to become clerk of the Board of Aldermen.

A second generation alderman, Kennedy joined the board in 1989. He succeeded his father, Sam Kennedy, who served on the board for 21 years. During his time in office, Kennedy helped create the North Sarah development — a state, federal and private partnership that brought about new housing in his ward.

Kennedy was also the key backer of a Civilian Oversight Board for the St. Louis Police Department. That idea languished for years, until aldermen ended up passing legislation after Michael Brown’s shooting death in Ferguson. After the Jason Stockley protests, aldermen ended up giving that board subpoena power.

Sen.-elect Eric Burlison, the latest guest on Politically Speaking, talked about the upcoming legislative session  — including his bill that would implement “right to work” in Missouri.

The Greene County Republican served for eight years in the Missouri House before hitting term limits. He successfully ran for a state Senate seat this year that includes part of Greene and all of Christian County.

Burlison is a computer programmer who has been active in GOP politics for some time. He first ran for the Missouri House in 2008, winning a seat that took in part of the city of Springfield with about 57 percent of the vote.

During his tenure in the Missouri House, Burlison became chairman of the House Professional Licensing and Registration Committee. While that committee doesn’t attract a lot of attention, it’s arguably one of the most important legislative committees since it places regulations on a host of industries.

Veteran Democrat Mike Jones – who has played significant roles in St. Louis and St. Louis County government – joins Politically Speaking to offer his take on how best for Democrats to regroup after their generally poor showing.

Jones also talks policy, particularly in his current role as a member of the state Board of Education.

Jones began his political career more than three decades ago as a St. Louis alderman in the city’s 21st ward. Since then, he’s become a go-to person for state, city and county officials.

Most recently, he’s been tapped as a consultant in the city’s deliberations of whether to privatize St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

State Rep.-elect Mary Elizabeth Coleman joins Politically Speaking to talk about her big win in Missouri’s 97th District House seat — and her expectations about the upcoming legislative session.

Coleman is a Republican from Arnold who defeated Democratic state Rep. Mike Revis in this month’s election. She will represent parts of St. Louis and Jefferson counties when lawmakers return for the 2019 session in January.

Coleman is an attorney who previously served on the Arnold City Council. She was one of three Republicans who signed up to take on Revis, who took over a seat that Republicans had controlled for roughly eight years.

St. Louis Alderman Scott Ogilvie returns to Politically Speaking to talk about the pressing issues before the Board of Aldermen — and why he’s decided to leave after the 2019 elections.

Ogilvie represents the 24th Ward, which takes in six neighborhoods around southwestern St. Louis. That includes neighborhoods that encompass Dogtown, such as Cheltenham, Clayton Tamm, Franz Park, Hi-Pointe and Ellendale.

Ogilvie first burst onto St. Louis’ political scene in 2011 when he prevailed as an independent candidate against former Alderman Tom Bauer. For a time, he was the only member of the Board of Aldermen who wasn’t elected as a Democrat. He successfully ran for re-election in 2015 as a Democrat, once again defeating Bauer.

Throughout his tenure as an alderman, Ogilvie has been advocate for bolstering the city’s mass transit and bicycle infrastructure. He was also the sponsor of legislation that implemented donation limits for city-based candidates.

Sen.-elect Cindy O’Laughlin joins the Politically Speaking podcast for the first time to talk about her priorities for the 18th Senatorial District — and her experiences as a first-time candidate.

O’Laughlin won the election last week to represent the 18th Senatorial District district, which takes in a swath of northeast Missouri including cities like Hannibal, Kirksville and Bowling Green.

St. Louis Public Radio’s political trio – Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies and Rachel Lippmann – did a postmortem of Tuesday’s election results on the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast.

The upshot is that Missouri Republicans did well, and state Democrats have some rebuilding to do.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., was ousted by Republican Josh Hawley, and state Auditor Nicole Galloway barely won, despite a low-budget challenge from Republican Saundra McDowell.

One Democratic bright spot was Cort VanOstran’s strong – but unsuccessful – bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin.

For Missouri Democrats, tomorrow is judgment day.

After leading the Show Me State for most of its existence, voters will decide if the last two Democratic statewide officials remain in their posts. If U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and state Auditor Nicole Galloway prevail, it could provide a jolt for a party seeking to rebound after the disaster of 2016.

But if GOP Attorney General Josh Hawley is able to topple McCaskill, and Saundra McDowell is elected auditor, it could be the surest evidence that once-purple Missouri is now deep red.

Those two races aren’t the only things on the electoral radar. Voters will also decide on several major ballot initiatives — including three on legalizing medical marijuana. And across the river in Illinois, Republicans are on the defensive after Gov. Bruce Rauner’s tumultuous term.

Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies to talk about how Democrats are stacking up in next week’s election.

Both Webber and Missouri Republican Party Chairman Todd Graves recorded episodes of Politically Speaking. You can listen to Graves’ episode by clicking here.

Webber is a former state representative from Columbia who was elected in 2016 as party chairman. The 35-year-old took on that role after narrowly losing a state Senate race to Republican Caleb Rowden.

Since becoming chairman, Webber has been traveling all over the state to rebuild the party after the 2016 election. He’s placed an emphasis on fielding more candidates in state legislative races — instead of letting Republicans run unopposed. And he’s also sought to foster a more aggressive get-out-the-vote effort to help U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and state Auditor Nicole Galloway win their elections.

Missouri Republican Party Chairman Todd Graves joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies on the latest edition of Politically Speaking.

Both Graves and Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber taped podcasts giving their perspective on next week’s election, which will have a major impact on the state’s future political trajectory.

Graves is a partner at the Graves Garrett law firm in Kansas City. He became chairman of the Missouri Republican Party after the 2016 election cycle.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies take a deep look at Amendment 1 on the latest edition of Political Speaking.

The measure, widely known as Clean Missouri, combines a host of ethics-related alterations with an overhaul of state legislative redistricting. Out of all the things on the Nov. 6 ballot, Clean Missouri is eliciting the most unusual political alliances.

Proponents include left-of-center activists and groups that helped craft the measure, as well as some prominent Republicans. Backers contend that Clean Missouri will make politics more accessible to people — as opposed to special interests or lobbyists.

Detractors believe that the ethics-related items in Clean Missouri, including curtailing lobbyist gifts and slightly lowering campaign donation limits, are aimed at making the state legislative redistricting changes more palatable to voters. While many of the opponents are Republicans, some African-American officials and groups aren’t supporting Clean Missouri because of fears it will lead to fewer black lawmakers getting elected.

GOP state auditor nominee Saundra McDowell joins the Politically Speaking podcast to talk about her campaign for the statewide office.

McDowell is squaring off against incumbent Democrat Nicole Galloway, who was appointed to her post after Tom Schweich’s death in 2015. You can listen to Galloway’s appearance on the show here.

McDowell is an Oklahoma native and Air Force veteran who received her law degree from Regent University. She worked as an assistant attorney general and as director of enforcement for the securities division under Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.