Ann Moloney and Jessie Shepherd will vie for the District 114 House seat, which was previously held by Republican Ken Waller, died Aug. 23, 2025.
District 114 covers the eastern portion of Jefferson County including Pevely, Herculaneum and Festus.
House representatives are paid an annual salary of $41,770 and serve two-year terms.
Moloney, 58, of Barnhart has a background working in marketing, sales, wealth management and financial planning. She spent three years in education sales and has worked in nonprofit management and development. She spent more than a decade in management at a private charitable foundation as secretary and treasurer. She has served as the Jefferson County Federated Republican Women president for the last four years. She has been a member of the Serra Club of St. Louis, a Catholic organization, for 17 years. She is involved with the Birthright of Hillsboro nonprofit, E. Walter Hausstette Foundation, and the St. Joseph Parish. She has nine children, two of whom are deceased, 16 grandchildren and one more grandchild on the way.
Shepherd, 46, of Festus is a disability advocate with a local non-profit, supporting adults with developmental disabilities who live independently. She graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1998, also earning an associate degree in deaf communication studies from St. Louis Community College in 2016. She is the current chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Jefferson County and a member of Women Democrats. She served on the Herculaneum Park Board from 2020-2024 and has served on the Festus Park Board since 2025. She graduated from the LeadMO Cohort program and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Citizen Academy. She volunteers with the League of Women Voters. Her husband is John Barnes, and she has two stepdaughters.
Why should voters elect you, and what are your goals if elected?
Moloney: I would like to create a new era in our state house as your District 114 representative. I pledge to never sign a non-disclosure agreement. I am not accepting money from lobbyists because my people demand a higher level of ethical conduct. An advisory board will be my accountability team.
Shepherd: I love our county, and I’m driven to make it the best it can be. Beyond disability advocacy, I’ve worked in food service, retail, warehouse labor and sales. That’s not the typical resume for a state representative, but it gives me the lived experience of the average Jefferson Countian. We have enough doctors, attorneys and insurance agents in Jefferson City. It’s time to send someone who understands your struggles. If elected, I’ll fight to fully fund our public schools, make healthcare and prescriptions affordable, and stand up for workers’ wages. Having lost a family member to addiction, I’ll push for accessible, affordable treatment. And I’ll protect local control so our communities and family farms, not corporate special interests, decide what happens in our backyards. Our budget should invest in your family, not corporate tax breaks. I’d be honored to receive your vote on Nov. 3.
In light of recent elections, many voters contend Missouri’s state legislators are following their own political agendas, rather than listening to the will of the people, citing Amendments 4 and 5 as the most recent examples of a seeming disconnect between legislators and residents. Do you agree or disagree with that assessment?
Moloney: The current state of the local government in Festus, completely ignoring the will of the people in the matter of data center development, is an abomination. If you cannot stand up for the rights of the people in Festus, Mo., you should not be in government.
Shepherd: I agree. There’s no reason Missourians should have to vote on the same things more than once. When voters pass something, like Medicaid expansion or abortion rights, the legislature’s job is to carry it out, not look for ways to undo it. Amendment 4 is a clear example: it would have made it far harder for citizens to amend our constitution, and voters rejected it overwhelmingly. That tells you how disconnected some lawmakers are from the people they represent. Our system is supposed to be one of checks and balances, and the initiative petition is how the people hold their elected officials accountable. When lawmakers won’t listen, whether it’s on healthcare, wages or new issues like data centers coming into our communities, voters need to be able to take it to the ballot themselves. I’ll listen to Jefferson County first, not party leadership.
A common topic of legislative reform concerns tightening the requirements for citizen-led initiative petitions. Would you support reforming IP? What sort of reforms would you support?
Moloney: Number one priority for all legislators should be to protect the people’s right to vote. Reform should not be designed to silence citizens or make it difficult for grassroots efforts to succeed. Let’s have a fair process, protect citizens’ right to petition and ensure voters have accurate information and confidence in the system.
Shepherd: Missouri’s initiative petition process is already cumbersome, and it’s thorough enough. Gathering signatures across the state, surviving legal challenges over ballot language, and then winning a statewide vote is no small feat. It shouldn’t be made harder. I’d support reasonable reforms that protect the integrity of the process, like strong penalties for signature fraud and transparency about who’s funding these campaigns. What I won’t support are changes designed to take power away from voters, like Amendment 4. If someone believes strong reform is needed, I encourage them to do what any citizen can do: start an initiative petition and let the people decide. If it’s truly what Missourians want, it’ll pass.
