KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After the dust settled in the 19th House District Democratic primary, Ingrid Burnett emerged victorious over Manny Abarca by just 20 votes. Abarca, an upstart staffer for Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, had the support of the Congressman as well as many Kansas City representatives in Jefferson City, like state Sen. Kiki Curls, and Reps. Gail McCann-Beatty and Brandon Ellington to name a few.
However, Burnett believes she had something that he did not.
“I think the advantage I’ve had is that I’ve lived here for 37 years and the people know me,” she said. “They trust me.”
Burnett added that when she went to knock doors, the most common response she received was that people already knew exactly who she was – and that they had her vote.
She got her start in Kansas City after moving there from St. Louis to attend UMKC in the late 1960’s and early 1970s. Burnett spent most of her adult life as an educator, teaching at Kansas City and Independence-area schools beginning in the mid-1970s. She has moved into local politics in recent years, serving on the Kansas City School Board from 2002 to 2008 and she has been a Committeewoman for Kansas City’s 11th Ward for the last 15 years. She also serves on the University of Missouri Extension Board of Directors for Jackson County.
After retiring just over a year ago, Burnett said she still wanted to contribute and that her set of skills. Friends, neighbors and family members suggested that she try running for state representative since Rep. John Rizzo would be running for state Senate.
“I was not really clear about where I was going to go with retirement,” she said. “I knew I wanted to continue doing something with my skills, but it was time for me to move beyond the classroom and the school building.”
Eventually, she came around to their way of thinking and decided to run.
“I’ve got the experience, the background and I’ve got the relationships, and I understand it’s not easy and it gets really contentious at times… At the end of the day, I have the skill set to do this.”
Burnett may also be able to get an assist from her husband, John, who served as a state representative for the area. He served a full eight-year term after getting elected in 2002. He served as Burnett’s campaign manager and treasurer, and she says his experience and advice has already become indispensable.
“He gives me guidance all the time even in the campaign,” Burnett said. “He’s been a big help and big support.”
In November, she will face off against Green Party candidate Valorie Engholm. Barring the chance that Engholm becomes the first Green Party candidate to sit on the Missouri House floor in history, Burnett wants to focus on the educational needs of the state, something right in her wheelhouse. She supports fully funding the foundation formula. She also supports Medicaid expansion.
Another issue important to her community is the housing situation. Northeastern Kansas City, which she would represent, is one of the older suburbs of the city, and people are worried that some of the old homes in that area are deteriorating.
“This is an area that has got a lot of history and a lot of historic properties,” she explained. “Some are being restored beautifully and others are being neglected terribly. There’s concern about restoring and protecting that historic piece.”
She says helping to lead on fixing those houses goes a long way to preserving the integrity of those neighborhoods. The three tenets she believes can do that are crime prevention, income protection, and job creation.
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