Jill Schupp Launches State Senate Campaign

It won't be official until she files papers with the Missouri Secretary of State's office in January, but Thursday afternoon, Democrat Jill Schupp, the State Representative for Missouri's 88th district, kicked off her bid for the Missouri State Senate with a fundraiser in Frontenac.

The 24th State Senate district stretches to include portions of Chesterfield to the west, Warson Woods to the south, Maryland Heights to the north and Clayton to the east. The incumbent, John Lamping of Ladue, has said he will likely have a decision about seeking re-election in place by Thanksgiving.   

With the party's likely 2016 gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Chris Koster there to introduce her at the Frontenac Grille, Schupp did not mention Lamping by name, but instead attacked what she called an extreme agenda pushed by the Republican supemajority in both houses, citing efforts to outlaw islamic sharia law, restore the gold standard and nullifying federal laws. Schupp said she would continue to support efforts to expand Medicaid and fully fund K-12 education.

Calling it a race that will be watched by the state and one of the few which will be competitive in 2014, Schupp said she would need to raise $750,000 for a bid that she described as a "journey back to common sense and trust."

In his introductory remarks, Koster invoked President John F. Kennedy's last policy speech, given in San Antonio, TX, the day before his death and how Kennedy spoke of throwing a hat over the wall and having no choice but to chase it. The metaphor was used then as a challenge to push Americans into space. 

When asked if the same could be said for Missouri Democrats, looking to chip into a GOP supermajority in the State Senate, Koster said he was realistic.

"So long as there are supermajorities in each chamber it's difficult for Democrats to sit at this policy table and have a full and productive dialogue and that's what we want to work toward creating," Koster said.