Missouri Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, has spent half of his eight years in the House as the assistant minority floor leader.
He says one of the lessons he’s learned as the No. 2 Democrat is how not to overshadow House Minority Leader Crystal Quade.
“But make no mistake about it, I've always been prepared to take over for the Democratic caucus, should that situation have occurred,” Brown said.
Now, Brown could be in a similar situation next year, if he wins his race to be Missouri’s next lieutenant governor, should the governor leave office.
Brown said he decided to run because “for too long, the needs of Missouri families have been ignored.”
“I'm running on a campaign that's designed around working with Missouri families, doing things like increasing the number of affordable housing units in the state, trying to eliminate the state tax on food and groceries,” Brown said.
Brown won his primary in August, beating an opponent with almost 65% of the vote.
He is facing Republican Dave Wasinger in the general election, whose victory in the primary over state Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, was considered a bit of an upset.
Brown said Wasinger’s primary win hasn’t changed his strategy.
“I'm just going to continue moving forward with what's been working for me, which is just talking to people, understanding their needs and trying to work on their behalf,” Brown said.
Brown was the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. Wasinger is scheduled to appear on an upcoming podcast. Here are other issues Brown talked about on the show:
- How he believes he can gather the voting coalition necessary to win as a Democrat statewide.
- The role statewide officials should have on the Missouri Housing Development Commission.
- How he would act as the official Elderly Advocate for Missouri, which is a duty of the lieutenant governor.
- His vision for the multitude of boards he would serve on if elected. He already serves on one of them, the Board of Tourism.
- How he would advocate for the arts in Missouri. The funding for many arts programs in the state are within the budget for the lieutenant governor.
- His thoughts on how Missouri Democrats will fare in the November election.
Brown was first elected to the House in 2016. His district represents parts of southeast Kansas City.
He was elected to serve as assistant minority leader in the House in 2020 and reelected in 2022.
Prior to serving in the House, Brown was a public school teacher for 23 years.
