Boone County official enters 46th District House race
A Boone County elected official said Friday she will challenge a fellow Democrat to represent her party in the November election for the 46th District seat in the Missouri House.
Public Administrator Cathy Richards, who was first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, said she is running as a Democrat who can work with the Republicans who hold solid majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. She will face social worker Martha Stevens in the August primary. Stevens is backed by the current 46th District representative, Stephen Webber, who is seeking a state Senate seat.
Richards said Paul Quinn, a former Democratic state representative from Boone County, is chairman of her campaign committee, which also includes Republicans.
“I’m going as a moderate Democrat, not a liberal Democrat,” Richards said. “I believe that, through communication and cooperation and consensus, we can get something done.”
Richards said political parties, including her own, have put party advancement over the best interests of their constituents, as illustrated by the tenor of today’s political battles.
“Number one, I want to go for the people, not the party,” Richards said. “Number two, I really want to be a representative. ... I want to represent the district,” instead of fighting purely ideological battles.
Richards said voters need a choice in candidates other than those picked by a select few who hold political power. She said those comments were not aimed at Stevens, but more a general observation of how political parties operate.
Richards said she was inspired to run in part by archaic state laws governing how public administrators care for their wards. The public administrator serves as the court-appointed guardian or conservator for incapacitated or disabled persons and minors. The administrator also is the personal representative in the estates of deceased clients. She said she has experience working in the state Capitol as president of the Missouri Association of Public Administrators. She is also on the board of the Missouri Association of Counties.
She said she supports Medicaid expansion, one of Stevens’ main campaign planks, but also thinks the system should be scrutinized to root out waste. The state, Richards said, is falling short in its obligations to the poor.
Her campaign’s late start compared to Stevens, whose campaign started in March, is not a concern, Richards said, citing her experience running in two primaries and two general elections. “I’ve always had somebody running against me,” she said. “I’m not saying that it didn’t bother me, because it was a lot of work for me. … But that’s democracy working.”
Stevens’ campaign said Thursday it raised $35,870.98 in 2015. Reports for the fourth quarter of 2015 are due Friday.
Stevens said she had heard Richards was interested in running but did not know Friday evening that Richards had entered the race. She said having an opponent will not alter her approach to the campaign.
“I welcome Cathy to the table and hope that we have a positive and spirited campaign,” Stevens said.
Don Waterman, a U.S. Navy veteran currently employed by Bass Pro Shops, is the only Republican so far to enter the 46th District race. Filing for the August primary begins Feb. 23.
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