The People's People from Spectrum News Spectrum News

There are many roads that lead to becoming an elected official. As the son of a preacher/auto mechanic and a nurse, Jason Smith’s self-described blue-collar background found him working a series of jobs, graduating early and pursuing a career as a lawyer. After that it wasn’t long before he found himself a Missouri state representative at the very young age of 25.

Smith speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about his upbringing and tells some moving stories about why his work in politics means so much to him. He also shares how he convinced a loan officer to give him the money to buy the family farm, as well as his rather unique approach to naming his donkeys.

As a child, Congresswoman Ann Wagner aspired to Broadway stardom. But her hardworking parents made sure she had something to fall back on — even if they didn’t necessarily expect it to be elected office. But after working at two well-known Missouri companies, she found herself married and living in Jefferson City, and that’s exactly what happened.
 
Wagner speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about her St. Louis upbringing and the experiences that have made her who she is today. They also discuss the value of a dollar, how the arts can affect your life, and how a Christmas party conversation with the president changed everything.

Jay Ashcroft grew up in politics. It’s been a part of his life forever, and the family dinner conversations often centered around it. His childhood also included meeting presidents and Arnold Schwarzenegger, sitting first row for the St. Louis Cardinals, and sneaking around the governor's mansion. And while he also worked as a lifeguard, a Dairy Queen worker, an engineer, a teacher and a lawyer, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that he has ended up where he is now - as an elected official.
Ashcroft speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about his road to becoming Missouri Secretary of State. They also touch on raising a family, and his family’s response to his decision to enter politics, which met with a rather surprising reaction from his mother.

Perhaps there’s no direct path from childhood to Lieutenant Governor, but Mike Kehoe’s story has a few more surprises than one would expect. Raised in northern St. Louis by a hardworking single mother, Kehoe was the youngest of six. He went from being a teenager washing cars at the Ford dealership to owning one. He also became a first-generation farmer. And, of course, Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. 
 
Kehoe talks with journalist Lindsey Christ about his journey, and why he feels his life experience makes him a good politician. He also discusses the importance of core values, common sense and writing on paper plates.

Dru Mamo Kanuha was just 28 when he was first elected to represent the people of his Kona community. Though his family can trace its local lineage back 12 generations, Kanuha has forged a path in politics all on his own. In this episode of the podcast, he explains how much the local canoe club meant to his childhood sense of community and how it still plays a role in his life today.
 
Though Kanuha started out helping his father with contracting work and then went to college planning on becoming a marine biologist, he has found a place as the Hawaii State Senate majority leader.

With several life stories that read like a movie script, Hawaii Island Mayor Mitch Roth had a circuitous path to elected office. In this episode of the podcast, he discusses the impact of several key moments in his life, from a teenage plan to take a trip around the world, to a side-job caring for his boss’s elderly mother, to almost losing his life twice.
 
Roth didn’t plan to run for office and then when he initially did, he says nobody expected him to win. Now, a year into the role of mayor, he is focused on using his life experiences to make a difference for Hawaii County.