Ken Waller of Herculaneum, the current county clerk and former county executive and treasurer, and political newcomer Ann Moloney of Barnhart announced last week that they will seek the Republican Party’s nomination for what is now the 114th District House seat, now held by Becky Ruth.
The district’s boundaries and number will likely change after the state redraws House and Senate districts following the 2020 Census. Filing for the August 2022 primary election runs from Feb. 22, 2022, through March 29, 2022.
State senators and representatives currently receive a $35,915 salary, plus mileage and $115 per day in expenses for each day the General Assembly is in session, but will receive an $1,800 raise spread out over two years beginning in July. State representatives serve two-year terms.
Waller
Waller, 60, said the late Ron Casey, a former Jefferson County commissioner and state legislator, provided the inspiration for his current campaign.
“Ron was not only a good friend; he was my mentor,” Waller said. “He told me that if I ever had the opportunity to serve in Jefferson City, I have to do it. He said he had so much fun being in the state House, and that he was honored that he could help so many people while he was doing it. He said that I had to give it a shot.”
Waller said now is the time because of the state’s term limit standards that prohibit state representatives from serving more than four two-year terms, which is why Ruth is not running for another term.
“In practical terms, these seats open up only once every eight years,” he said. “After all these years in county government, I am ready to go on to something else, and this (the Herculaneum-Pevely-Crystal City-Festus area) is where I’ve lived for 58 years of my life. This area has invested in me over the years, and I think it’s time I invest in the area. It’s a great place to live and raise a family, and I want to give back to it.”
Waller said his tenure as county clerk – he was elected in 2018 after serving eight years as county executive – will serve him well as the State Legislature debates possible election reform.
“A focus if I am elected is ensuring election integrity and protecting voting rights. That’s been a big issue over the last three years. While I think in Jefferson County that we’ve done a great job running elections over the last three years, to the people I talk with daily, they think there may be a problem. It’s an issue that’s still on peoples’ minds.”
He said his experience as county executive and treasurer also would pay off in the House. “I know about budgeting and how government spends money,” he said. “As county executive, I oversaw budgets every year. It’s larger numbers when you get to the state level, but the concepts are the same.”
He said he also would be a proponent of first responders if elected.
“A lot of people talk about first responders, but I would do what I could to help them get better pay and the equipment they need. We need to take care of our first responders.”
Waller said he believes his experience should stand out in what may be a crowded ballot. “I think that ‘Experience Matters’ will be my campaign motto,” he said.
Waller and his wife, Trina, have three children.
Moloney
Moloney, 53, said politics has been in her blood for almost her entire life.
She said she tagged along when she was 5 years old when her father ran successfully for a seat on the Ferguson City Council in 1973, and that made a lasting impression.
“Also, my family was very involved in Missouri Citizens for Life (now Missouri Right for Life, a pro-life advocacy group), and I took to that. I literally grew up trying to defend the unborn. That was a regular thing for my family.”
Moloney, a saleswoman with Presentation Solutions, which sells large-format poster printers to schools throughout the state, said now is the time for her to make her first run for elected office.
“I got married at an early age, and had a large family (nine children) and it didn’t make sense until now.”
Of her nine offspring – seven of whom served in the U.S. armed forces – only one is still at home, Michael, 17, a junior at Herculaneum High School.
She said her job, which involves driving all over the state for sales calls at schools, led her to decide that a state House seat should be her goal.
But one of her 11 grandchildren provided the push she said she needed.
“My granddaughter asked me one day, ‘Nana, why don’t you serve your country like Mom and Dad?’ I knew then that public service was my next calling so that I can proudly tell her, ‘I do!’”
Moloney said she foresees no problem juggling a job, a son and legislative duties. “I know how to multitask.”
Pro-life issues will be a priority if she is elected, Moloney said, and she’s learned a lot about education through her job. “Those are issues that are important to the people I want to represent, and they’re important to me,” she said.
“Another thing I’m passionate about is the right to bear arms. I think Second Amendment rights need to be respected. I became a hunter in 2014, and I think the (Missouri Department of Conservation) has done a good job on educating people to respect guns. Especially in this area, I think that’s an issue that people are concerned about.”
While this is her first try in politics, Moloney said her life experiences will help her be a good legislator.
“I’ve been through a lot in my life,” she said. “I think I could be a really strong voice and solid representative.”