COLUMBIA, Mo. – Aaron Willard’s story is an unlikely one of success. He’s been involved in Missouri politics for years now, and built his way from the ground up. But he could very easily have wound up in a completely different lifestyle, if not for a couple of key decisions that would shape his future.
A charismatic man with a disarming smile, Willard combines his passion with a multitude of skills and talents to excel in the Missouri political environment. He loves finding ways to solve problems, and enjoys using data to develop and refine strategies in the political realm. The intelligence exhibited by Willard is equally matched by a calm demeanor, but do not let that fool you; his tenacity for the job is exceptional, and ability to see risks as opportunities has led him up the proverbial ladder in a short amount of time.
Born and raised in the small town of Troy, Mo., politics was never really an interest for Willard. His first involvement in anything political didn’t come until the age of 18, when he was seeking to attend the naval academy.
“I went to a couple of events to meet Rep. Kenny Hulshof, because you have to get a nomination from your local Congressman or U.S. Senator to go, and that was the most involved I had ever been,” Willard said. He got a scholarship, but in the end, decided against going. He headed to the University of Missouri, where he decided to major in engineering. But after taking theoretical calculus class, he realized he wanted to take a more hands-on approach. He switched to economics, and fell in love. It was then he discovered his place in the political spectrum.
“In college, when I was going through and writing a paper for a class in economics, it just kind of hit me: Oh my God, I’m a Republican,” Willard said. “For me, it was something that wasn’t an inherited process, but learned. It was pretty profound, because I came to that opinion on my own perceptions and beliefs.”
His venture into the political world began as an intern at the capitol, working in the communications office.
“I think they looked at me like I was foreign,” Willard said with a laugh. “What is this econ nerd doing in the communications office?”
So he began writing, and after time, found out that he had been writing some of the stuff for the House Speaker. After that, he was approached by Dave Hageman, who is now the president at Victory Enterprises, asking if Willard had any interest in doing political campaigns. Without any prior experience, he signed on.
“I thought I had failed, that I didn’t do very well,” Willard said. “They came back and offered me a job, and I was really surprised. They said they never really thought they would have a chance in those districts, but because of what I had done, they became competitive.”
Since then, he has put together an impressive resume in a rather short amount of time, which all began with Willard’s work as the chief of staff for former House Speaker Rod Jetton and his service as the executive director for the Missouri House Republican Campaign Committee.
“I still remember doing an HRCC field team campaign school. We asked people to make a political prediction for a couple years from now. And I still remember thinking ‘Republicans will have a veto-proof majority in the House’,” he said. “They thought I was crazy. But I had spent a lot of time looking at maps, looking at margins, and I just believed we could do it. There’s a way this could be done.”
They began heavily recruiting after the ’08 election, and with a change in the political environment, everything fell into place. The Republicans won the seats needed for a supermajority, and the GOP’s resurgence in Missouri began.
Following that success, Willard worked as campaign manager for Ann Wagner’s bid for Congress, and most recently, chief of staff for Senator Ryan Silvey. He also spent some time in the private sector, working at as the treasurer and spokesperson at Grow Missouri, where he helped push forward the passage of SB 509, the first income tax cut in Missouri for years.
He attributes his success to his experiences and the lessons he learned under people like Rob Knodell, Rod Jetton, Steve Tilley, Tony Feather, and Dave Hageman.
“I got exposed to all sorts of stuff, and what I learned was incredible. I was working on policy issues, helping out on legislation, and working with caucuses,” Willard said. “I was very lucky to see how they operated. They were people of really high character and integrity. I was fortunate to work with people of that caliber and quality.”
But his most recent accomplishment has garnered him the most recognition: he served as the political director for the Trump campaign in Missouri. He was picked as Trump’s Missouri State Director in August of 2016, shortly after the Republican National Convention.
“The more I thought about it, I knew what was really important to me was the success of our party. I thought this was a way to get engaged in a campaign and help out everybody,” Willard said.
The media has called the Trump campaign one of the most controversial campaigns in recent times, but Trump’s resonance with voters shown through clearly on election night. Many believed Hillary Clinton to be the favorite, but a late surge in the polls gave the billionaire’s campaign hope. Willard believes that surge stemmed from a strong effort by the grassroots movement.
“Probably the thing I found to be most impressive was the quality and dedication of the people at the grassroots level supporting Mr. Trump,” Willard said. “People from all walks of life saying they were tired of the direction. These were people spending a tremendous amount of time and money to be able to help the effort, and it was incredible. It was energizing for me, because I felt I owed it to them to make sure I’m doing everything I could, too.”
The Republican candidate surged through Missouri, all the while claiming several states that had supported the Democratic candidate in the previous presidential election. Willard and the campaign had put together a projection of what they realistically thought would be the highest anticipated results for voters, and Missouri literally threw it to the curb, exceeding their highest total projections by more than 100,000 votes.
“I will admit I thought we would win by double digits, but I didn’t anticipate that we would win by 19 percent,” Willard said. “I don’t know that there has ever been a victory that was that big or a margin that large for a presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat in the state of Missouri. It’s kind of neat to be a part of that history, not to mention the history that will go down in the books about his candidacy and presidency.”
Trump’s win in Missouri led to even more success for the GOP, as Republican candidates swept all of the statewide offices, as well as a GOP-dominated legislature.
The question now is this: what is next for Willard?
Many have speculated that he will be offered a position in Washington D.C. under Trump’s administration, but Willard says that nothing has been mentioned at this time. If there is an offer, Willard would consider it, but says that any decision would have to take his family into consideration. A strong family man, he’s happily married with a four-year-old daughter, a job that he says is the most important to him. He also says that it would be hard to leave the rolling hills and rivers of nation’s heartland.
Others wonder if Willard might seek office on his own, but when asked about it, he just laughed, saying he prefers to work behind the scenes.
Whatever his decision may be, Willard will always remember the halls of the Missouri State Capitol as the training grounds that helped make him the political powerhouse he has become, even though he might be too humble to acknowledge that title.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
