The House district that includes part of St. Louis County will not have an incumbent in the race this year.
Susan Meredith, the Democratic Representative for District 71, announced Tuesday to colleagues she will finish out her current term in December and that will end her legislative career.
“The time has come for me to step aside and LaDonna Appelbaum will be running for my seat in the 2018 election with my full support,” Meredith wrote in a press release.
Meredith was first elected in November 2012 and successfully held onto her seat — representing portions of Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Maryland Heights, Olivette, Overland and a large portion of unincorporated St. Louis County — since.
Blasting Republicans for their talk of being caring and moral, ethical people, Meredith said, “Democrats actually walk the walk and actually do care, are moral and ethical (mostly).”
“Since we lost the majority in 2008, it has been a struggle to be heard,” Meredith stated. “2018 is the year we either turn the tide with growth in the number of Democrats holding seats in both our House as well as in all states and Congress; or watch our country, as we know it, disappear.”
Meredith reminds her constituents that her name will not appear on this years ballot, but her ideas and goals are scattered in various laws, rules and regulations.
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.