House - MO 2nd - Jill Schupp

Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Ann Wagner in the suburbs south and west of St. Louis

video clip: "Jill Schupp Bulletin Board 2020"

Jill Schupp was deeply influenced by her parents’ examples of entrepreneurialism, hard work, devotion to family and community. Her dad, a former Marine, worked 6 days a week at a junkyard he started at age 19 with his father in East St. Louis. Jill’s mom was an audiologist in the local schools and doctors’ offices. Jill and her siblings were among the first in their family to graduate from college. She taught in public schools, then joined an advertising agency where she worked with small businesses.

Jill’s involvement in her community began as PTA President at her children’s school. Next she was elected to the school board, where she addressed every issue she campaigned on, and served two terms as board president. She was elected to the city council, and subsequently to the state legislature. She first served in the Missouri House of Representatives for 6 years, followed by her election to the Missouri State Senate in 2014, where she has taken many worthwhile initiatives. She has worked on behalf of veterans. She introduced legislation to require marital and family therapists to complete suicide management training as a prerequisite for licensure; in recognition, she received a leadership award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She introduced a resolution calling on the Chinese Government to stop the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners. She has worked to eliminate surprise billing in emergency rooms and to improve day care safety. She worked to expand access via tele-health to nurses who have been trained to collect rape kits; the law goes into effect in 2022. She is now drafting legislation to provide support to Missouri schools in their reopening processes during the pandemic.

Jill’s priorities in the U.S. House of Representatives would be to protect and improve the Affordable Care Act; to invest in early childhood education as well as more affordable education options post secondary school; and to support small businesses whenever the federal government seeks to fix problems in the national economy.

Jill has been endorsed by Giffords PAC (Gabby Giffords’ political action committee) for her strong leadership and dedication to gun safety. She has also been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund, EMILY’s List, End Citizens United, NARAL, the Sierra Club, and the AFL-CIO of Missouri.

Jill’s opponent is incumbent Republican Ann Wagner, now in her 4th term. In 2019, the American Conservative Union (ACU) reported that Wagner had the most conservative voting record among all members of the Missouri Congressional delegation: she supported the ACU’s position 91% of the time. She has voted with Trump 95% of the time, including multiple votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to defund Planned Parenthood. Her lifetime score with the League of Conservation Voters is a dismal 3%. Even lower are her ratings by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL; both ratings are 0%. As the Riverfront Times wrote in an editorial, “almost from the moment Trump became president, Wagner . . . became a sycophant overnight and hasn't looked back.”

This will be a tight race. Trump won the district by 10%, but his suburban support has been eroding. Wagner still has a cash advantage. The race for Missouri 2nd is winnable, but Jill needs our help to flip this seat.