7 hours Ago By Ezra Bitterman St. Louis Post-Dispatch
CHESTERFIELD — Since President Donald Trump was elected to a second term, outspoken Democrats have been traveling the country fighting against what they see as an authoritarian shift in America. U.S.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Maxwell Frost along with Sen. Bernie Sanders have taken their “Stop the Oligarchy Tour” to a wide range of venues, from downtown Los Angeles to small-town Idaho.
Missouri got a taste of that action Friday night. U.S.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, held a town hall that drew about 1,200 attendees to Chesterfield, a prosperous suburb in west St. Louis County in the heart of the GOP-leaning 2nd Congressional District.
The district has been represented since 2013 by Ann Wagner of Town and Country, a veteran politician who has successfully weathered several well-financed challenges, but still remains a leading Democratic target. Friday’s event covered a range of subjects but frequently returned to a common theme: “Where’s Ann Wagner?” The question raised by members of the audience and by Murphy was both literal and figurative. Where is Ann Wagner physically, as she holds few town halls in her district.
But also where is Ann Wagner on the issues, as Republicans in Congress ponder cutting popular government programs, including Medicaid. “I am grateful that my dad can get the care that he needs (thanks to Medicaid), and Republicans, especially Congresswoman Wagner, shouldn’t be able to take that away from him,” one attendee said. A nonpartisan analysis found it would be impossible to meet House Republicans’ budget goals without some cuts to Medicaid.
Wagner, who is currently part of a congressional delegation attending the funeral of Pope Francis, said in a statement Friday that the Democrat-sponsored town hall in her district is “just another political stunt from the Democrats and shows just how disconnected from hard-working Americans they really are.” She added that her focus has been on supporting Israel in “their fight against terrorism” and “securing our intelligence world with the British.” Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District is one of 35 represented by Republicans that have been targeted by Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.
The Cook Political Report found the district to be four percentage points in Republicans’ favor. Murphy has emerged since Trump’s victory as one of the nation’s most outspoken Democrats. Over the last few months he’s held town halls in GOP-leaning congressional districts across the country to rally resistance to prevent Trump from getting away “with his campaign to destroy democracy.
” “There are Republicans and Democrats in every single state who do not want Donald Trump to get away with his campaign to destroy democracy,” Murphy said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch. “It makes sense for Democrats in Washington to be everywhere, to be in states that Donald Trump won, and to be in states that Donald Trump lost.” Murphy was joined by Missouri Senate Democrats who used the town hall to condemn Republican attacks on a measure passed by voters to raise the state’s minimum wage.
“Democrats believe working families are the backbone of our economy,” Sen. Doug Beck, D-Affton, said. Beck then connected what Republicans are doing at the federal level to what’s happening in the Legislature, arguing they working to benefit the rich while hurting the poor.
He noted that state lawmakers have been prioritizing legislation allowing Missourians to claim a credit for their federal capital gains taxes, a measure that Democrats say will largely benefit ultra-wealthy Missourians. “That (capital gains) doesn’t affect the minimum wage worker we’re trying to get sick leave for,” he said. At the end of the event, an attendee asked why the Democratic Party is “always following, never leading on issues.
” In response, Murphy outlined what he called a patriotic vision for the party, including democratic reforms to rescue America from a “new Gilded Age.” He said both Democratic and Republican administrations have been complicit in allowing an unsustainable wealth gap to exist in America. Murphy argued to get ahead of “this legitimate frustration with what democracy is not delivering for people” the party needs to “fundamentally upend who has power.
” He proposed pushing a constitutional amendment to bar corporate money from political campaigns and a law barring members of Congress from buying stocks..
