If you are fortunate to be traveling west on Manchester Rd, perhaps even stuck in construction traffic near the Home Depot, look up. West County Democrats have rotating messages on the billboard, coincidentally in front of ineffective Ann Wagner’s office, with a simple request. If you want change, positive change that actually benefits the people of our State and our Country, you have great Democratic choices in November. Let’s bring some common sense back to our politics and our governing bodies. Vote Democratic.
In our meeting today, West County Democrats hosted Dr. Bryan Troop, our Candidate to represent Missouri State House District 89, Fred Wellman our Candidate for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District, and Elad Gross former Assistant Attorney General of MO, civil rights attorney, government transparency advocate, and leader in expanding civic engagement in MO.
Dr. Troop, a physician and medical ethicist, was educated in St. Louis University and has been the Director of Trauma Services and Surgical Education at Mercy Hospital, St. Louis for 26 years. He is concerned about the state of education and healthcare in the State of Missouri and hopes to change the downward trajectory of state services as a State Representative.
Fred Wellman may be the hardest working candidate for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District in recent memory, yet he took time to meet with us with just three weeks left before the November election. He has exactly the qualifications we’d expect from someone in that office, he understands the challenges that face working families all across America, and will be taking all of the insight he has gathered from meeting with thousands of future constituents in the District to Washington– something his opponent has never done. His ask of us, all of us, is to step up and have conversations informally with friends and family or formally as door-knockers or post card writers. Change is coming if we engage and make it happen. There has never been a time when this was more necessary.
Always energetic, Elad Gross is a favorite of West County Democrats and his discussion helped clarify the myriad of Amendments and Propositions on the November ballot. As you would expect, there is a lot of manipulative and misleading text and intent within those initiatives, and much of it involves the retention of the citizen-initiative Referendum process vs. a consolidation of greater power within the State government. A YES vote for Amendment 6, for instance, would solidify the Referendum process and block legislatures from countermanding the will of the people. Conversely, Amendment 3 (a legislature proposed amendment) would repeal the constitutional right to reproductive freedom ratified by voters in 2024. Expecting the voters to find this unappealing alone, the legislature added a tricky ban on gender transition surgeries for minors… which is already banned through regulation. A YES vote on Amendment 6 and a NO vote on Amendment 3 will slow down the government’s continued attempts to disperse or reverse our constitutional rights.
Elad took a lot of further questions about other state-wide initiatives on the ballot (which have similar trickery and power-consolidating intent) and the long list of judges vying to be retained. He demurred making recommendations except to say, most of them are decent, thoughtful people. He recommended we research these jurists on Your Missouri Judges website.
At the conclusion of our keynote speakers presentations, Legislative Advocacy Lead Glenn Koenen presented his monthly legislative report which can be found HERE in its entirety. Glenn does a great job of documenting the wacky and destructive acts in Washington; and the fiscally irresponsible initiatives in Jefferson City that are damaging the efficacy of our educational systems and infrastructure.
As a reminder to all, early voting starts on October 20, 2026 and there are many satellite sites available. You can find more information about voting at the St. Louis County Board of Elections site.
VOTE!