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Politically Speaking: Sen. Schatz on floods, transportation needs and that pesky county sales tax

Dave Schatz
Jason Rosenbaum | St. Louis Public Radio
Dave Schatz

On this week’s edition of the Politically Speaking podcast, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies are pleased to welcome state Sen. Dave Schatz to the program for the first time.

Schatz is a Republican hailing from rural Franklin County. The Sullivan native’s state Senate district encompasses western St. Louis County and all of Franklin County.

Schatz’s family owns a utility contracting business. He successfully sought a vacant House seat in 2010. He then filed to run for the 26th District Senate seat in 2014, which was occupied at the time by Sen. Brian Nieves. Nieves ultimately decided against running for re-election, while prominent GOPers like former House Speaker Tim Jones and former Sen. Jane Cunningham chose not to challenge Schatz in the primary. This effectively handed the election to Schatz, since winning the Republican primary in the 26th District is tantamount to election.

Since he entered the legislature, Schatz became a key player on bolstering funding for transportation. He’s been an advocate for requiring people to get a prescription before getting pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in cold medicine that’s often used for meth production.

Here’s what Schatz had to say on the show:

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies

Follow Dave Schatz on Twitter: @DaveSchatz26

Music: “When You Were Young” by The Killers

Jason is the politics correspondent for St. Louis Public Radio.
Jo Mannies is a freelance journalist and former political reporter at St. Louis Public Radio.