JEFFERSON CITY — Two north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County sisters are looking to continue a local political dynasty in the Missouri Legislature.
Janay and Chanel Mosley, granddaughters of longtime politico and former state Rep. Elbert Walton Jr., have filed paperwork to run for two seats in the Missouri House that their family members are leaving due to term limits.
Records show Janay Mosley, of Florissant, filed paperwork in August to run for the state House seat that her father, state Rep. Jay Mosley, is vacating.
Chanel Mosley, of north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, filed paperwork on the same day to run for the seat that her uncle, state Rep. Alan Gray, is vacating.
Alan Gray filed paperwork to run for Black Jack City Council next April; Jay Mosley filed paperwork to run for an unspecified statewide office in August 2024.
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Chanel and Janay Mosley would join their mother, state Sen. Angela Mosley, D-Florissant, in the Legislature if all three are successful in the August Democratic primary and November 2024 general election.
Chanel and Janay Mosley did not respond to requests for comment.
The sisters’ candidacies could further stoke political tensions in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, where not everyone is allied with the Waltons and Mosleys.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Council Chairwoman Shalonda Webb, for example, could face a challenge from ex-Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray in the August 2024 primary. State records show Walton Gray has filed paperwork to run for her former seat.
Webb ousted Walton Gray, who is married to Alan Gray, from the council in the August 2020 primary.
Walton Gray and Angela Mosley are Elbert Walton’s daughters.
The rivalry between Webb and Walton family members was evident at a ceremony last month marking the demolition of Jamestown Mall.
After Angela Mosley was introduced as the next speaker at the event, Webb approached the podium and told the crowd that Mosley had worked behind the scenes in Jefferson City against $6 million in state funding for the razing.
Mosley said she did support the state funding. Mosley also said Walton Gray, her sister, “really was the one who championed this when she was in office†but had faced funding challenges.
Meanwhile, in the Legislature this year, Mosley made a not-so-subtle dig at Webb, someone convicted of stealing campaign funds from holding a state or local government job.
Webb’s husband, former state Rep. Steven Webb, of Florissant, pleaded guilty to felony theft in 2014 after, according to court documents, Webb deposited $3,000 to an account in the name of the Missouri Black Caucus and then transferred it to his personal account.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler hired Steven Webb for a clerical job in January 2019.
Chanel and Janay Mosley made news last June after the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Department of Public Health hired them as COVID-19 contact tracers. Their hiring came after County Executive Sam Page appointed Walton Gray, a political ally, to a newly created $89,000-a-year health department job.