Saint Louis, Mo. — Jack Spooner was ready. Republican leadership and party faithful had courted him. He’d been told he was the best shot Republicans had at holding a swing district – the 24th Senate district – covering parts of northwest St. Louis County.
As the official party selection for the seat, Spooner filed on day one with a single opponent, Robb Hicks. And while Spooner could not simply sit at home until August 5, Spooner’s institutional support appeared to make him a lock.
A successful lawyer who worked with Dave Spence in his 2012 race for governor and Bill Corrigan in his challenge to Charlie Dooley in 2010, Spooner said he was inspired and educated by the tough losses.
“Those were the first two examples that came to mind,” Spooner said about his decision to run. “It was my turn to step up and fight as hard as I can to help improve our situation. I hope the outcome is different. But they worked as hard as they could, that’s all I can do. However it ends up, it ends up. I stepped up, took challenge, tried to give something back – that’s my obligation.”
On top of his experience, Spooner has a compelling personal narrative. Spooner’s father and his grandparents were Austrian Jews forced to flee the country after his grandfather was briefly imprisoned in the infamous Dachau internment camp. His mother was born in then-French Morocco before she also fled to the United States at 19, fearing the political pressures created by the Nazi occupation. Spooner says his parents story reminds him of the delicate nature of liberty.
“I’ve had that Liberty or Death, Don’t Tread On Me flag since college,” Spooner said. “And it’s funny because for a long time nobody said anything about it or looked twice at it. But I looked at it every day because it reminds me how precious liberty is, and that it can be taken away if you don’t fight to preserve and protect it.”
Enter John R. Ashcroft, son of former U.S. Attorney General and Missouri political icon, John David Ashcroft. The junior Ashcroft filed for the primary on the final day, and suddenly forced Spooner to redirect his attention to a now-crowded primary.
“My expectations haven’t changed, I always knew this would be a challenge because I was expecting to run against Representative Schupp — who is a very capable campaigner — in the general election,” Spooner told The Missouri Times. “The only difference is now I’m focusing the fight on the primary and not able to look to the general election just yet.”
Spooner is cautiously optimistic, perhaps a reasonable demeanor given the makeup of the race. The 24th is hardly a Republican stomping ground. Sen. John Lamping, the current senator from the 24th who will not be seeking a second term, won the seat by just over 100 votes. Democrats have dispatched Rep. Jill Schupp, a longtime House member and formidable campaigner, to attempt to win the seat in an election cycle that may be unkind to Missouri Democrats.
Spooner says Schupp, along with many in Jefferson City, is part of the state political machine and not in-touch with the needs of the community.
“To me, the ideal of politics is this: you are a local community member and you leave your local job as a teacher or farmer or laywer or doctor, and you run for office and when you win you go and legislate,” Spooner said. “And when it’s done, you come home and go back to your regular job. We have to feel accountable and attached to our local communities.”
Spooner says he’ll be more engaged in his district than anyon elese and, if elected, more accountable.
“That’s what I bring to this race,” Spooner said. “I’m part of this community. If I make a decision in Jefferson City I’ll be back here at the grocery store or a restaurant and I’m looking them in the eye, I have to be accountable to them. I’m not someone from the outside coming in and telling the community what’s best or someone who is taking instructions from someone outside like a special interest.”
While Spooner is filed as a Republican, he also believes the party needs to embrace more than the current conventional wisdom.
“I don’t believe in saying that someone is only a Republican if they do exactly these things,” Spooner said. “We all have the same values, and in practice sometimes it’s going to look different. But diplomacy and negotiation are a key part of the work, and I’ve been negotiating in my practice my whole life. You reach a compromise and you find a workable solution.”
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
