Community Corner

Glenn Koenen Issues Statement On Defeat In U.S. House Race

The Oakville Democrat says he "will not quietly disappear into the fog," after loss to Ann Wagner.

The following statement was distributed via email Wednesday morning from the Glenn Koenen campaign for Congress:

I want to thank all of you for the help you gave me and support you gave my campaign.  You were inspirational and helped keep me committed to the fight.

 The election result in the 2nd Congressional District did not come out the way that I – and you – wanted.  The mostly official tally shows Ann Wagner with 235,607 votes to my 145,257, giving her a 23% margin of victory.

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The good news is that my cost per vote was about 36¢ to her $12.00.  (Alas, the winner in the cost effective category doesn’t get a job in Washington.)

Today we need to congratulate Governor Nixon, Senator McCaskill, our new Secretary of State, our returning Treasurer, our new 1stDistrict State Senator Scott Sifton and those State Representatives who beat the trend (including a couple who re-claimed seats held by Republicans).  And, we need to support our re-elected President, a leader who still faces intense battles to move our nation forward.

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Last night I was surrounded by friends and family as we watched the results: the food, drink and camaraderie was excellent.

I don’t want to sound bitter, yet, I want to note who did not join our crowd.  No reporters or news crews visited us at the Corner Pub.  (Chris McDaniel from KWMU/Beyond November did call after the results were pretty much final.)  All the way back to the day I filed for office most every story in the ‘mainstream media’ focused on the impossibility of a Democrat winning the 2nd District.  Some community papers didn’t even run stories on their local Congressional race.  None of St. Louis’ TV news reporters ever interviewed me.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch deserves special criticism.  For example, in their longest piece on the race the positions held by Wagner and me were largely shortened to bullet points.  The website headline noted I was being outspent “100 to one,” not that a progressive Democrat was facing a very conservative Republican.  That’s why the Post’s endorsement (made after I had a 15 minute conversation with Messenger) wasn’t a surprise.  To maintain the conventional wisdom they had promoted for months, the Post had to endorse the candidate they called “flat our wrong” on key issues.

No, I didn’t expect a fair fight.  I had hoped for a better measure of objectivity, at least from the “liberal media.”

I decided when I entered the race that I wanted to concentrate on issues and run an aspiring campaign, not a negative one.   My commercials talked about what I would do for the district.  I feel good about the approach I took.

Yes, I never hesitated in pointing out my opponent’s ties to Washington special interests or her inability to find a candidate forum.  Of course, those press releases were never utilized by the media.

I enjoyed the new friends I made during the campaign and cherish all you did to help me.  Thank you for believing in me and my campaign.

I don’t yet know where the road will take me.  I will not quietly disappear into the fog.  Please stay tuned.

 

 


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