This afternoon, State Sen. Jill Schupp announced her candidacy for the House of Representatives before a crowd of 500+ in suburban St. Louis. The DCCC has named this one of the top 12 House pick-up opportunities in the country. Missouri - 2. Jill is running against Rep. Ann Wagner, one of the junior members of the House GOP leadership. Wagner is something of a ghost in St. Louis County as she avoids constituents for fear of defending the antics of the current President in a district that is trending blue. In 2018, Dems came within 1.5 points of flipping it. Jill needs money! jillschupp.com
Schupp’s opponent, Rep. Ann Wagner began her political career as an anti-choice activist and is a favorite of Donald Trump, former Rep. Todd Aiken and the late Phyllis Schafly. Lately, Wagner has tried to soften her image by championing bi-partisan issues like being against sex trafficking and re-naming a bridge for Cardinal great Stan Musial. Wagner hopes to re-invent herself as a sort of midwestern version of Maine’s Susan Collins.
Schupp has been a school board member, State Rep and State Senator. She is pro-choice, in a district that has been at war over the issue for almost 50 years. Schupp also supports common sense gun safety laws and a large cheering section from Moms Demand Action was at the kickoff.
This will be an interesting race. By the way, the views above are my own. I plan to volunteer for Jill but I don’t work for her campaign.