JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – St. Joseph Republican Brenda Shields has announced her candidacy and filed to run for Missouri House District 11, filing on March 27.
Shields is running on a theme of “Growing Missouri’s Future.”
“I am a longtime resident of St. Joseph and Northwest Missouri, and I believe our region deserves leadership that will fight for our people and for the policies that will grow our communities and our state for the future,” Shields said.
Shields is not new to service, having led community initiatives during her time as the President and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Joseph, as well as a business educator in the St. Joseph School District at Benton High School and Truman Middle School. Prior to her time as an educator, Shields worked for Quaker Oats in St. Joseph for seventeen years, bringing experience from private industry to the classroom.
Shields is a longtime advocate of early childhood education as a tool for long-term economic development. She has served on the board of the Northwest Missouri United Cerebral Palsy and the Missouri Early Childhood Coordinating Board, in addition to championing Success by Six initiatives.
As part of Shields’ “Growing Missouri’s Future” campaign, Shields believes in setting Northwest Missouri up to be a leader in our state for business and people development. This includes investing in the vital arteries of our region, its infrastructure, to allow our businesses to get products to market safely and efficiently. Additionally, there must be a business climate that promotes small businesses and homegrown industry without being strangled by unnecessary regulation. Finally and most importantly, that every dollar invested in education, early childhood all the way up through our state colleges and universities, pays long-term dividends in personal and economic development for our citizens.
Shields earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Missouri – Columbia, where she met her husband, former State Senator and President Pro Tem Charlie Shields. They have two adult married sons: Brandt (Mary) Shields, St. Joseph, and Bryce (Allison) Shields, Kansas City.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.