Politically Speaking

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 Garr...

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 in...

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 la...

State Auditor Nicole Galloway returns to the Politically Speaking podcast to talk about her quest for a full four-year in office. The Democratic official was appointed to her post in 2015 after the suicide of  Tom Schweich. She’s squaring off against Republican Saundra McDowell in Nov. 6 election. McDowell’s episode of Politically Speaking will be posted on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies examine Thursday night’s televised debate between U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and Attorney General Josh Hawley. The debate comes as most polls show a tight race between McCaskill and Hawley. And few observers believe that Democrats have any chance of taking over the Senate if McCaskill can’t win a third term. Among other things, the candidates...

Congresswoman Ann Wagner joins Politically Speaking to talk about her re-election battle against Democrat Cort VanOstran. The Ballwin Republican represents Missouri's 2nd District, which includes parts of St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson Counties. Many political prognosticators believe that Democrats have a good chance of retaking the House this year. And if they do, the party may gain the mos...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies delve into the three medical marijuana initiatives. Missourians will vote on Amendment 2, Amendment 3 and Proposition C. All three initiatives would make it legal to get marijuana for medical use. But they differ greatly in terms of how much marijuana will be taxed, how the regulatory framework would work, and where the money would go toward.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies look at three things playing a big role in Missouri’s 2018 election cycle. The first is debate over pre-existing conditions between U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and her GOP opponent Josh Hawley. It stems from Hawley’s decision to be a part of a lawsuit seeking to upend the Affordable Care Act. McCaskill made health care a signature issue of her...

Randy Auxier, the Green Party nominee in Illinois’ 12th Congressional District, is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. Auxier is running against incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Bost and Democratic nominee Brendan Kelly. Both Kelly and Bost both recorded episodes of Politically Speaking earlier this year. Auxier is a Memphis native who is currently a philosophy professor at...

Democrat Robert Butler is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. He joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Abigail Censky to talk about his bid for the 22nd District Senate seat. Butler is running against incumbent Sen. Paul Wieland, an Imperial Republican who first captured the Jefferson County-based district in 2014. Wieland’s episode of Politically Speaking was posted on Monday....

Sen. Paul Wieland is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. He talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies and Abigail Censky about his re-election bid in Missouri’s 22nd District Senate seat. The Imperial Republican represents a portion of Jefferson County in the Missouri Senate. His race against Democrat Robert Butler is one of the most competitive state Senate races in t...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies look at the importance of Jefferson County in this year’s statewide election. Whenever there’s a competitive statewide election, Jefferson County often gets a lot of attention. That’s because voters there almost always pick winners of statewide elections — as they did in 2016 and 2012.

Democrat Patrice Billings is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The St. Charles County resident talked to St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies about her bid for Missouri’s 2nd Senatorial District seat. Billings worked for several decades a helicopter pilot for the St. Louis County Police Department. She is squaring off against incumbent Sen. Bob Onder, a Lake...

St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies to talk about his re-election bid — and what he learned from his successful run for attorney general two years ago. The Olivette Democrat has served as St. Louis County assessor since 2011. Before that, Zimmerman was a member of the Missouri House and a staffer for governors Jay Nixon and Bob Hol...

Illinois Congressman Mike Bost joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies on Politically Speaking to talk about his bid for a third term. The Murphysboro Republican has represented Illinois’ 12th District since 2015. He’s running against Democrat Brendan Kelly, who is St. Clair County’s state’s attorney. The Bost-Kelly race is expected to be one of the competitive congressional...

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s decision to vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court is a key topic of the latest Politically Speaking podcast. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies look into how undisclosed political money is playing into the contest between McCaskill and GOP Attorney Josh Hawley. It comes as millions of 501(c)(4) cash is going to support Hawl...

East Central College hosted a candidate forum on Thursday night featuring numerous contenders for local, state and federal offices. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum moderated the event, which featured questions on pressing public policy issues — as well as ballot initiatives that voters will consider on the Nov. 6 election.   The candidates that Rosenbaum questioned include: State Sen. Dav...

Conservative writer Jonah Goldberg is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. He joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies to talk about his new book Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy. Goldberg is a syndicated columnist and a senior editor for National Review. He was intimately inv...

Former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies on the latest episode of Politically Speaking. The Republican served in various federal and state capacities for more than 20 years. While Talent is no longer a candidate himself, he is leading the charge against a constitutional amendment known as Clean Missouri. Talent is a St. Louis County native who has s...

St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies detail Friday's Missouri Press Association Forum. It featured U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and Attorney General Josh Hawley. The journoduo also took a closer look at the state auditor's contest between incumbent Democrat Nicole Galloway and Republican Saundra McDowell.

Cort VanOstran joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies to talk about his Democratic bid in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District. VanOstran is squaring off against Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner, a Ballwin Republican who has represented the 2nd Congressional District since 2013. The district includes parts of St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties.

Brendan Kelly, the Democratic candidate in the 12th Congressional District, talked extensively with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his decision to enter the highly-competitive congressional contest. Kelly is squaring off against Congressman Mike Bost, who became one of the first Republicans to represent the 12th District in generations. The Bost-Kelly contest is expected to be one...

This week's episode of Politically Speaking takes a look at next week's special session of the Missouri General Assembly. Gov. Mike Parson called lawmakers back to work to pass bills aimed at expanding STEM education and drug courts. It comes as Missouri's election season is in full swing. One of the items that voters will decide on later this year is a gas tax increase. St. Louis Public Radio's M...

Sen. Bob Onder joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann to talk about Gov. Mike Parson’s transition in the state’s chief executive office — and what the legislature could deal with in 2019. The Lake Saint Louis Republican represents a portion of St. Charles County. He’s running for re-election against Democrat Patrice Billings. Because Mike Kehoe became lieutenant governo...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann round of some of the week’s biggest developments in the 2018 elections. One of the topics Rosenbaum and Lippmann take a look at this week is President Donald Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs — and how they may affect Missouri’s U.S. Senate contest. And in our weekly election analysis feature, Lippmann and Rosenbaum take a closer look a...