KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A few Missouri Capitol regulars will now soon become veterans of another governmental body. State Rep. Kevin McManus and former state senator and minority leader Jolie Justus both won seats on the Kansas City City Council Tuesday night.
Both won their districts with more than 70 percent of the vote in an election that saw more than half the sitting council leave office thanks to term limits.
Justus served for eight years in the Missouri senate where she became immensely popular on both sides of the aisle and developed a reputation as a sharp strategist. She left office after 2014 due to term limits.
McManus is still a House member, but is not allowed to serve both locally and in Jefferson City at the same time, and he’ll be resigning his House seat soon.
“For the past several years, I’ve served as co-chair of Kansas City’s Bipartisan Legislative Caucus and as the ranking member on the House Local Government Committee,” McManus told The Missouri Times. “These roles provided me with the opportunity to work on a variety of local issues from the state level. A strong state and local partnership is crucial to making progress on a variety of issues, whether it is economic development, infrastructure, and criminal justice.”
McManus said it was an “exciting time” to be working back in Kansas City, a metropolitan region that continues to grow.
“Kansas City covers a large area of 320 square miles, has relatively low densities, and dispersed development,” McManus said. “This presents unique challenges in improving and maintaining our infrastructure, which is top priority for me and my district. I’m also interested in exploring how we can use new technologies to deliver better, more efficient city services and improve the level of communication between city government and residents.”
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
