For several decades, Ray Hartmann was a regular on the Nine Network’s Donnybrook where he often clashed with other St. Louis journalists about local issues.
He also started the Riverfront Times, which regularly took a contrarian view about politics and culture in the St. Louis region.
Earlier this year, Hartmann announced he was leaving the journalism world to take on U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin. And on an episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Hartmann made the case that he would be a more present and effective legislator for the 2nd Congressional District, which includes a large swath of the St. Louis region.
“Our politics are broken, and Congress is broken,” Hartmann said. “And I've been in the public eye for a long time, and I just felt this was the time to step up.”
Hartmann is particularly critical of Wagner on abortion rights. Wagner has said she is opposed to abortion except for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Hartmann is supportive of abortion rights and added he would vote to legalize abortion everywhere up to fetal viability — which is usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
“I believe very strongly that we need Congress to restore Roe v. Wade protection to all women in our country,” Hartmann said.
He also said that Wagner and other abortion opponents are misrepresenting Amendment 3, which would place protections for abortion rights in the Missouri Constitution. Hartmann said nothing in the measure would “legalize abortion up until birth,” but the procedure would be available after viability in the case of a catastrophic pregnancy complication.
“It's so ridiculous to even talk about that, that somehow somebody should be able to walk in at 37 or 38 weeks and say, ‘They changed their mind.’ Of course not,” Hartmann said. “I absolutely believe that past fetal liability, the only possible reason to talk about this is the health or life of the mother, or I should maybe add if the fetus is actually dead.”
Agreement on Ukraine and Israel
While Wagner and Hartmann diverge on a multitude of issues, Hartmann said he’s generally in agreement with the GOP congresswoman that the United States should continue to provide military aid to Ukraine.
“We don't really differ on that,” Hartmann said.
He also supports providing military assistance to Israel, though he added that the United States should continue to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to end his country’s war in Gaza.
“I do not think support for Israel and the Jewish people should be conflated with support for Bibi Netanyahu, because I think he is a bad actor,” Hartmann said. “I don't think there should be an arms embargo at all, but we need to take a leadership role as best we can and use our leverage to bring a cease-fire and to bring the end of what's happening in Gaza.”
Hartmann said he opposes GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposals to place tariffs on imported goods. He said those tariffs will ultimately be passed down to consumers.
“We saw what happened with farmers the last time during the Trump administration, where basically the Chinese responded with basically trade war against our farmers,” Hartmann said.
Hartmann has also been critical of how Trump has talked about illegal immigration, specifically when he said it was “poisoning the blood” of the nation.
“Talking about immigrants poisoning the blood of our people, that is straight out of Adolf Hitler's playbook,” Hartmann said. “And I think one of the problems we have is the xenophobic violent rhetoric, and all this talk about rounding up millions of people and deporting them, to me, has so coarsened our political discussion.”
Could the 2nd Congressional District be competitive?
Before 2022, Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District was by far the most competitive in Missouri. And it still is, especially since the other seven congressional districts are either safely Republican or safely Democratic.
But because of the addition of Franklin and Warren counties, the 2nd District leans much more to the GOP than it did during the 2010s. And the part of St. Charles County in the district also tilts heavily toward Republicans.
Still, Hartmann said backlash against Trump and restrictive abortion laws could accelerate the drift of western St. Louis County toward Democrats. St. Louis County makes up most of the district’s population.
“In a district that's largely made up of St Louis County voters, there will be record turnout,” Hartmann said. “Because in a red state, going to the ballot box is the only way that women and men can protect reproductive freedom.”
