This article frst appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 2, 2012 - Republican congressional candidate Ann Wagner brought in former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for a rally Thursday night that appeared aimed largely at underscoring Wagner's hefty financial and political advantage in the 2nd District contest.
Before a crowd of several hundred at the Drury Inn in Chesterfield, Huckabee lauded Wagner as a tough and loyal conservative who "will be a leader in the Congress when she gets there."
Huckabee asserted that Wagner also would be unafraid to take on President Barack Obama, should he win re-election. But he added, "I hope she has a new president to work with next year."
"Some people, depending on the political mood of a particular election, will take a position because they think that's what the voters want to hear," said Huckabee. "But with Ann, the issues that Ann stands for and believes in are the issues that she has always stood for.
"Ann understands what it takes to be a part of a small business operation. She understands what it means to be a wife and a mother and raise kids," Huckabee continued. "She is also a grassroots political organizer who has never ever been far from the front lines of the grassroots movement. Because, like the grassroots, Ann believes in limited government, local government and a government that respects the sanctity of human life from conception."
Huckabee also praised the candidate's husband, Ray Wagner, an executive with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and former official for Republican governors in Missouri and Illinois.
Huckabee said that Wagner was among no more than a dozen congressional candidates who he plans to support and assist during this election year.
Huckabee portrayed Obama as "a president whose policies have taken the government off the tracks."
The crowd cheered as Huckabee blamed Obama for rising prices for gasoline, bread and milk, and declining values for homes and on the stock market. Huckabee contended that the latter has resulted in "a pension not worth anything."
Those in the audience included state House Majority Leader Tim Jones, R-Eureka and the speaker-in-waiting, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Spence.
Even without Huckabee's help, Wagner has been in a strong political position in her bid to succeed fellow Republican Todd Akin for the 2nd District congressional seat. It is a post she is believed to have coveted for years, even as she led the state Republican Party and held key positions with the Republican National Committee and, most recently, as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.
Her last campaign report, filed earlier this week, showed Wagner with more than $1 million in the bank.
Her longtime GOP campaign rival, St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, has switched to another contest. Her recently announced new primary opponent, Dr. Randy Jotte, has reported $133,516 in the bank, which includes a $100,000 personal loan from himself.
So far, no big-name Democrat has announced plans to run in the 2nd District, although some national Democrats have sought to encourage U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, who lost his 3rd District in the redrawn state congressional map.
Allies close to Wagner say she isn't concerned about the courts tossing out that map. The alternative map circulated by Democrats still keeps the 2nd comfortably Republican, GOP activists say.
