Author
Meet the disrupter who is about to become Missouri’s next lieutenant governor
For more evidence of Missouri’s drift to the far side of MAGA madness, look no further than the race for lieutenant governor. In the primary election, Republican voters turned aside Lincoln Hough, the veteran senator and state budget expert. They rejected Holly Thompson Rehder, a state senator with a compelling biography and rock-solid conservative values. […]
How Jay Ashcroft politicized the Missouri secretary of state’s office
His waning days as Missouri’s secretary of state have not been kind to Jay Ashcroft. Once considered a frontrunner to become governor, he finished a dismal third in the August Republican primary. A few weeks later, he was forced to certify Amendment 3, an initiative petition clearing the way for voters in November to decide […]
No, we don’t want Andrew Bailey handling abortion cases in place of local prosecutors
While busy with his own campaign for Missouri attorney general, Republican Andrew Bailey also loomed large in the primary race for prosecutor of the state’s second largest county. He popped up repeatedly in Jackson County in forums and interviews, sometimes by name and sometimes not, but always as a menacing presence. After a lively and […]
Strike up the band: Missouri moves to the front of the MAGA parade
A recent national poll asked prospective voters in some states how Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges would impact their choice in this year’s presidential race. In Missouri, 31% of the respondents said that Trump’s new status as a convicted felon would make them more likely to vote for him. I had to read […]
In Missouri, defaming immigrants is an elected official’s privilege and duty
Immigrant baiting is now official business for Missouri officeholders. That’s the message from Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who says his office will represent three state senators who are being sued for defamation over social media posts they filed after the Feb. 14 shooting in Kansas City at a rally to celebrate the Chiefs Super Bowl […]
Voiceless in Missouri: How an attack on initiative petitions stifles democracy
I’m heading into the grocery store and someone with a clipboard approaches. “Hi,” the person says. “Are you a registered voter in Missouri?” The same thing happens in front of the neighborhood bakery. And at public gatherings like parades. Outside the post office. Even on random street corners. I confirm that I am indeed registered […]
Apologizing for Missouri’s legislature is routine in Kansas City
Kansas City’s downtown took on a campus-like feel in early February as 8,000 visitors congregated at the downtown convention center and fanned out to nearby bars, coffee shops and tourist sites. The guests included students, immigrants, people of color and people who identified as LGBTQ, in town for the annual conference of the Association of […]
Sorry to conspiracy theorists. Kansas City loves the Chiefs — and so does most of Missouri
Apparently not everyone is thrilled with the prospect of Kansas City returning to the Super Bowl against San Francisco. “Bleh. How uninspired. How anti-climatic. How disappointing,” is how a USA Today story summed up fan reaction outside of the Chiefs Kingdom and the Bay area. Sorry, not sorry. We here in Kansas City believe we […]
A jailed ex-KC cop is a problem for Mike Parson. Blaming the prosecutor won’t solve it
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson clearly doesn’t know what to do about Eric DeValkenaere, the former Kansas City police officer convicted of killing a 26-year-old Black man, Cameron Lamb. Parson, forever a county sheriff at heart, hates the thought of a cop sitting in prison and he’s under pressure from the extended brotherhood of law enforcement […]
How a Kansas City area community college is helping students handle the housing crisis
This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon. Community colleges traditionally have been commuter campuses. Fewer than one-third of the nation’s two-year schools have on-campus housing. But on Aug. 12, 258 students at Kansas City Kansas Community College in Wyandotte County will move into a sparkling new residence hall. Named Centennial Hall, the building has been designed […]
How Eric Greitens and Josh Hawley soared so quickly in Missouri politics
Flush with ambition and cash, a newcomer arrives like a bolt from the blue. Or, in Missouri’s case, red. He jumps a line of aspirational politicians, lands in a statewide elected office and immediately sets his sights on a higher target, heedless of the wreck just up the road. Missouri has seen this movie twice […]