Jefferson City, Mo. — Veteran Democratic political strategist, Roy Temple, is joining The Missouri Times team as a guest columnist. Temple will be 
writing for us at his leisure as topics and controversies arise that garner his unique perspective.
Temple, the founder of Fire Up! Missouri, a nationally recognized local political blog. Temple has been active in Democratic politics since 1986 as political director for Gov. Mel Carnahan’s first bid for Governor and his campaign manager for re-election during 1996. Temple served as then-Senator Jean Carhanhan’s Chief of Staff, where he worked with the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Commerce Committee and the Government Affairs Committee.
Temple served as the Missouri State Director for the 2004 Presidential campaign of then-Senator John Kerry and during 2006 and 2008 served in the Washington D.C.-based Democratic polling firm, The Feldman Group.
Temple also debated governors Carnahan and Holden, along with Senators Franken and Brown, as the opposition during debate prep. His longtime roll as a political operative and wide range of experiences make him uniquely qualified to comment on issues of the day.
Scott Faughn, publisher of The Missouri Times, said that Temple was one of the most respected voices in state politics.
“Roy Temple is an extremely respected voice in our state,” Faughn said. “I admire Roy and I admire his work, and it’s very personally gratifying for me to be able to say he’s going to be writing for our paper. We are very lucky to have his insights and we think our readers will benefit from it as well.”
In a statement to The Missouri Times, Temple said he hopes more citizens will become engaged with politics that affect them locally.
“State government has much more [of an] impact on people’s live than many Missourians ever pause to consider,” Temple said. “I think The Missouri Times can play an important role in raising the level of attention Missourians give to state government and politics, and I am pleased to be a contributor in that effort.”
