ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Twice in the past four years, Republican U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner won reelection over Democratic challengers in a district regarded by national analysts as politically competitive.
This year’s Democratic nominee against Wagner — state Rep. Trish Gunby — has a tougher task in next week’s election, thanks to a redistricting plan passed by the GOP-run Legislature that made the district, the 2nd, more Republican-oriented.
Accordingly, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has left Gunby off its list of targeted candidates this year. In contrast, Wagner’s last two general-election opponents got such national party help.
Gunby, 62, who lives in an unincorporated area of west ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, has plowed full steam ahead, focusing on field work and door-to-door canvassing.
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And, like many Democrats across the country, Gunby is emphasizing her support for legal abortion, hoping to attract suburban voters worried about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that allows states to outlaw the practice. Missouri does so except in the case of a medical emergency.
“She tries to act as a moderate,†Gunby said of Wagner, a longtime ally of the anti-abortion movement, in an interview. “Clearly she’s not on that issue.â€
A Gunby mailer attacks Wagner for wanting “to police pregnancies and take away your right to privacy.â€
Meanwhile, Wagner, 60, of Town and Country, echoes other Republicans in focusing on rising inflation under Democratic President Joe Biden.
“We need to stop Biden’s skyrocketing prices of groceries and gas,†Wagner says in a TV commercial that’s aired in recent weeks. “Let’s stop inflation and fix the kitchen table issues that matter most.â€
On abortion, Gunby says she would vote in Congress for the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion nationally.
Wagner through a spokesman refused to be interviewed by the Post-Dispatch for this article. In August she told KSDK (Channel 5) that she supports outlawing abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and saving the mother’s life. The Missouri law has no exceptions for rape or incest.
Wagner in her commercial didn’t say what action should be taken to deal with inflation but has complained previously in a news release about “reckless†Democratic spending bills passed by Congress.
Among those is a she voted against in August that contains climate change initiatives and various other plans.
Gunby said she realizes that prices are higher but that “I feel like Republicans just use that as a political talking point.â€
She said Democrats had stepped up to push legislation aimed at curbing inflation, including a part of the August measure that caps insulin prices for seniors.
She also cited a pending aimed at blocking potential fuel price gouging.
Meanwhile, Gunby has criticized Wagner for voting against the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill “that’s going to bring jobs to the state.â€
Wagner said on Twitter last year that she did so because she vehemently opposes “the Democrats’ socialist takeover.â€
Wagner was first elected to the House in 2012 and before that was a longtime Republican Party official, serving as the GOP’s state chairwoman and national co-chairwoman. She also has been U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.
In 2018, Democratic newcomer Cort VanOstran reduced Wagner’s winning percentage in the district to 4 percentage points, spurring high hopes among Democrats of flipping the seat in 2020. But Wagner ended up beating the 2020 nominee, state Sen. Jill Schupp of Creve Coeur, by a margin of more than 6 points.
Gunby first entered elective politics in 2019 by winning a previously Republican-held Missouri House seat in a special election.
She announced her candidacy for Congress in August 2021 without knowing what the new district lines would be. Those didn’t become clear until May of this year when the Legislature completed its once-every-decade reapportionment process.
The new version of the district remains rooted in west and south ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. But parts of Maryland Heights, Bridgeton, Clayton, Brentwood, Webster Groves and some other areas have been moved from the 2nd to the heavily Democratic 1st District held by Rep. Cori Bush, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
New additions to the 2nd include strong Republican territory such as Franklin County and much of Warren County. The district also includes part of St. Charles County but not as much as before.
The change transformed the 2nd from an electoral tossup in 2020 to a safe Republican area, according to the nonpartisan . “Republicans (in the Legislature) have taken this district off the table with the stroke of a pen, or more accurately, a click of a mouse,†said David Wasserman, the Cook report’s U.S. House editor.
Gunby is undaunted. She said she finds more and more independent voters and even some Republicans who are simply happy to come across a candidate who talks to them face to face.
She repeats previous Democratic complaints that Wagner doesn’t hold town hall meetings in her district.
Wagner didn’t respond to that directly but a spokesman, Arthur Bryant, said Wagner has been “knocking doors, attending meet and greets, and contacting voters directly.â€
Wagner has a big money advantage, raising $4.46 million and spending $2.69 million through Oct. 19, according to , a nonprofit group that tracks campaign spending. Gunby raised about $788,000 and spent about $697,000, the group said.
Gunby plans to begin running her first TV ad this week, said Kyle Gunby, her son and campaign spokesman.
He said the commercial would concern abortion, Wagner’s “lack of availability†to the public and what he said was Wagner’s failure to support legislation aimed at curbing gun violence.
He said his mother wants to ensure that teenagers cannot buy assault weapons and to close gaps in background check requirements.
Also on the Tuesday ballot is Libertarian nominee Bill Slantz, president of a St. Charles County business.