JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Although she’s long been considered the next in line for the seat, Rep. Tracy McCreery made her state Senate candidacy official Monday. McCreery, a Democrat, is running for what is now Sen. Jill Schupp’s SD 24 in St. Louis County.
“I feel like it’s an important next step for me. In 2011, when I first ran for office, I campaigned and committed to being an independent voice for commonsense solutions,” McCreery told The Missouri Times ahead of her announcement. “I’ve worked with members of both chambers and both parties. Now, I’m taking it to the next level.”
McCreery has represented HD 88 in St. Louis County since 2012. She chairs the Joint Committee on Life Sciences and is the ranking member on a bevy of other committees, including Agriculture Policy, Emerging Issues, Legislative Review, and Utilities.
But McCreery has been working in the state Capitol, in some capacity, for about two decades. Before becoming a member of the General Assembly, she worked as a Senate staffer and served in former Gov. Bob Holden’s administration.
“Tracy McCreery was one of the hardest working, most thoughtful, public policy advocates on my staff,” Holden said. “She always would look at all sides of an issue while still focusing on what was best for working families.”
Although she’s a member of the super minority, McCreery has built a reputation in the statehouse as someone who is tenacious and intrepid while also extremely considerate. She’s built steady relationships with those in the GOP who have gotten some of her priorities — including providing feminine hygiene products to incarcerated women — across the finish line.
As a legislator, McCreery doesn’t care about the accolades as long as Missourians are helped.
“Tracy always puts in the work. She knows as much about rural issues as she does suburban issues,” said former Missouri GOP Executive Director Jean Evans who served with McCreery in the House. “You can always count on her to do what she says she will do and keep her word. She wants to advance good policy, and she doesn’t care who gets the credit so long as it gets done.”
McCreery said her constituents are compassionate — just like she is. Those she is seeking to represent support expanding Medicaid or keeping utility bills low, things that may not be as beneficial to those in her district but would help their neighbors, she said.
“I believe voters in the 24th district have compassion and empathy and can see where people having access to health care is the right thing for the whole state,” McCreery said. “Although voters in the 24th district, many of them are financially comfortable, they don’t want to see low-income Missourians and senior citizens and those on fixed incomes be faced with growing utility bills that can often drive people out of their homes.”
SD 24 is held by Schupp, a Democrat, who flipped the seat in 2014.
“Rep. McCreery studies the bills, asks the right questions, and works with both sides of the aisle to get things done,” Schupp said. “Tracy McCreery is a respected leader and will be a great member of the Missouri Senate.”
Aside from her duties in the Capitol, McCreery is an avid hiker. She recently hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim and equates the activity with her work in the legislature.
“It seems so physically challenging, but so much of it was mental,” she said. “Just like so many things in life, you just have to have the right attitude and give yourself a pep talk.”
The election will be held in 2022.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
