This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: July 9, 2008 - Sarah Steelman's roots in the conservative wing of the Republican Party run so deep that it's ironic that she's a political outsider. It's an image with which she feels comfortable as she takes on the party's consensus candidate, Kenny Hulshof, in the race for the GOP nomination for governor.
Another irony is that Steelman (left) and Hulshof, both 50, hold common views on so many political issues - both are pro-gun and anti-abortion, for example - that voters might have been hard-pressed to detect many fundamental differences between them. Not, at least, until Steelman staked out an attention-grabbing theme that has turned the GOP's gubernatorial campaign into a lively race.
She has been hammering Hulshof, a six-term U.S. House member from Columbia, for supposedly lacking the "guts" to stand firm and say no to "earmarks." That's another term for pork or pet projects that lawmakers slip into spending bills.
Steelman, Missouri's state treasurer, argues that Hulshof has backed earmarks 11,000 times. Her examples include his support for the Lobster Institue in Maine (she calls it a "lobster museum"). Left unsaid is that the institute's mission includes doing research to improve an industry that is one of Maine's key economic lifelines. Although Hulshof has responded that earmarks are added to spending bills without specific votes, his explanation hasn't satisfied Steelman. She continues to blame him for Congress' profligancy while voters back home struggle to fill their gas tanks, make their mortgage payments and hold onto jobs in the face of corporate takeovers, layoffs and buyouts.
It's unclear whether this pork-barrel controversy leaves a bad taste in enough voters' mouths to give Steelman the edge in the Aug. 5 primary. In any case, the GOP victor will face Attorney General Jay Nixon in the November general election.
Defying Party Expectations.
Steelman has a history of defying GOP expectations. The party assumed that she would step aside when most of its leaders decided that Hulshof would be its consensus candidate to replace Gov. Matt Blunt after Blunt decided not to seek re-election. She didn't.
"I'm independent, make decisions on my own," she says. "I think ordinary voters are looking for somebody who will stand up and be their voice."
Being that voice has meant taking on both political parties at times. After Steelman ran for the Missouri Senate and won in 1998, lawmakers learned to expect the unexpected. During the first year, she proposed to end pensions for state lawmakers. She continued to defy the party expectations after she became treasurer in 2004 and thwarted a state aid package for an ethanol plant because one of the investors was Andy Blunt, brother of Matt Blunt. The move was in keeping with Steelman's position of denying financial assistance in instances when an investor in the business is a lawmaker or a relative of one.
"I've never been afraid to do what I think is right, never been afraid to stand up to special interest groups," she says.
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About Steelman
Hometown: Jefferson City
Family lives: Rolla
Family: Husband, David; three sons, Sam, Joe and Michael; stepdaughter, Amanda Moore, lives in Louisiana with her husband Taylor and newborn baby Lily.
Education: B.A. in History and Masters in Economics, University of Missouri
Experience: Economist, Missouri Department of Revenue; deputy director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources; adjunct professor of Economics, Lincoln University; executive director, Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Rolla; investment broker, AG Edwards
Website: www.sarahsteelman.com
But some have pointed to apparent limits to her willingness to follow that principle. Her husband, David, is an attorney who handles personal injury and product liability cases. She was the sole GOP senator to vote against a tort reform bill that sought, among other things, to curtain damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits. She counters the perception that she compromised principles on that vote by noting that the bill would have put the public at risk by protecting drunk drivers from liability.
While dismissing Steelman's criticism of his votes on earmarks, Hulshof points to her objections to tort reform as an area on which he and she have a fundamental disagreement. He notes that trial lawyers are big donors to Steelman's campaign and to Nixon's.
Another area where she has been seen as selective on accountability is the $12 billion a month being spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was asked how could she criticize Congress so heavily for wasteful spending on domestic programs without addressing the possibility of fat and waste in war funding and how that spending affects the rest of the economy.
"I support his policies," she says of President George W. Bush. "We have got to continue to fight this war on terrorism to keep this country safe."
All in the Family
Steelman came into political maturity amid family members and in-laws who embraced the conservatism of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Her husband formerly was a member of the Missouri House, and her father-in-law, Dorman Steelman, once chaired the state Republican Party. But none of them has become as widely known as she has as she embraced causes that have brought her national attention.
Newspapers and television networks featured stories about her when she took the lead in urging state treasurers to seek laws requiring that public pension funds not be invested in companies that do business with countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism. She also sponsored the Missouri bill that set up the successful constitutional amendment that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. And she was featured in a recent New York Times story about women who might have the right stuff to become a U.S. president.
Beyond hot-button issues, such as embryonic stem cell research, Steelman has been deliberately vague about how she would take the lead in dealing with many fundamental issues facing the next governor. As to whether Republicans have gone too far in cutting social services, she will only say that she would review the issue to determine what needs aren't being met.
Noting that the state will face a funding problem because federal transportation dollars are declining, Steelman says Missouri might consider following Indiana's example of allowing private companies to build roads and bridges and lease them back to the state.
"I will not support a gas tax increase because people are hurting," she says. "Another option is to look at general revenue funds and earmark a portion of that for transportation.."
One Steelman proposal that would seem to make good sense involves eliminating the Missouri Assessment Program test at the high school level and replacing it with the ACT. She notes that the change would provide a way for more students to prepare for and earn good grades on the ACT as a threshold to boosting their chances of more financial aid and getting into good colleges.
"When you talk to teachers and parents, many people recognize that the MAP at the high school level is meaningless," she says. "The ACT is meaningful because it helps them realize their dreams of getting into college."
Handicapping the Race
Political experts are divided on Steelman's chances. Ken Warren, a pollster and political scientist at St. Louis University, sees strengths and weaknesses between both GOP contenders, but he thinks Hulshof will have a difficult time beating Steelman.
"The party insiders can't make the rank and file vote for Hulshof," Warren says. "He's not widely known outside of his district. On the other hand, Sarah Steelman has more name recognition because she has run a statewide campaign (for treasurer) and she won."
George E. Connor, head of the political science department at Missouri State University in Springfield, says Steelman's campaign has hit Hulshof's vulnerable spots: "She has really good TV ads. The public holds Congress in low esteem. Congressman Hulshof has a record that she can exploit through people's unhappiness with Congress."
But Connor adds that the danger during the final weeks of the primary is that the two will take positions so conservative that it will be difficult for them to pull back to centrist positions after the primary. He adds that Steelman doesn't seem comfortable campaigning. "She's not a good fish-fry speaker and is more adept pressing flesh."
Still a different take is offered by Jerry Wamser, an attorney and GOP activist. At this point, he says it's a horse race with both contenders well-financed.
He says there are bigger issues beyond what's being talked about on the campaign trails in both parties.
"St. Louis is becoming an outpost of other people's empires," he says. "Indigenous businesses are being taken over and decisions about St. Louis are being made by people in other cities. This is an astonishing phenomenon for us. The question is how do we position ourselves and continue to be players."
He says Missouri's vulnerability on issues such as its corporate base, jobs and even out of control gasoline prices will rise to the forefront.
"These issues all mean that an activist role by government won't be abandoned," Wamser says. "It's presumptuous to think that anyone has a magic answer.
"It's certainly not a banner Republic year. This will be an uphill battle."
Contact Beacon staff writer Robert Joiner.
To read the profile of Kenny Huslhof, click here .