Hoping to become the first person of color to represent Missouri’s second district and the youngest person to serve in the 118th Congress, Raymond Reed on Thursday announced his candidacy for the U.S. House representing Missouri’s District 2.
“Someone who represents this district in more ways than one and someone who can build a broader coalition of voters across divisions of race, region, religion, gender and income. So, I think I’m that candidate,” Raymond Reed said.
The 24-year-old Brentwood resident said his announcement to run in the Democratic primary comes after months of meetings with community leaders, clergy, and young people in the district. He will turn 25 in November, thus making him eligible for office.
“I have a great state representative, Rep. Jo Doll, so running for a state House seat wouldn’t be the best use of myself to the party in the state of Missouri,” Reed said. “… I think to challenge Ann Wagner, we can’t run the same old candidates that we’ve been running. My opponents fit the same mold as the last two candidates in the cycle — in 2018 and 2020.”
Missouri District 2 will hold its next election Nov. 8, 2022, after the Aug. 2 primary. So far, three Democratic candidates have announced their intention to run — Reed, state Rep. Trish Gunby and Ben Samuels.
Whoever wins the August primary will run against Rep. Anne Wagner, who was first elected in 2012. In 2016 and 2018 she was re-elected by margins of 21 and four percentage points, respectively. Last year, Wagner beat out Democratic candidate Jill Schupp by just over six percentage points.
Missouri’s District 2 encompasses the area west of St. Louis and includes Chesterfield, Des Peres, Sunset Hills, Arnold, Eureka, Creve Coeur and a portion of Maryland Heights.
Reed said in order for a Democratic candidate to take the seat, he believes they need to be a young, energetic person that brings new energy to the election.
“Someone who represents this district in more ways than one and someone who can build a broader coalition of voters across divisions of race, region, religion, gender and income. So, I think I’m that candidate,” he said.
Reed said he plans to exploit the Republican party’s divides saying he believes the party has two major factions now — the Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) side and the Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) side.
“And Ann Wagner has really kind of done a dance from both sides of those leading up to Jan. 6 and even post Jan. 6,” Reed said. “So, she’s just going to have to pick a side — is she going to be a Republican for West County voters, West County Republicans, that are more Bush [and] Romney Republicans, or is she going to go to the more rural Missouri side with the Trump base of voters.”
Reed said he is passionate about lowering the cost of health care, college tuition while also forgiving student loans, supporting unions, expanding social security and addressing gun violence.
If elected, Reed said he would introduce a $15 minimum wage bill on day one of his term and his second bill would seek to federalize central bargaining for labor unions.
Reed has served on Gov. Jeremiah Nixon’s policy team working on bill reviews and clemency application and on the Missouri Democratic Party as the party affairs coordinator and in organizing for state House and Senate candidates across Missouri.
If elected, Reed would become the youngest person to serve in the 118th Congress — but no the youngest ever.
William Charles Cole Claiborne of Tennessee became the youngest person ever to serve in the U.S. House in 1797 at the age of 22 when he was elected to complete former President Andrew Jackson’s term in the 5th Congress. Though he was younger than the constitutionally required age of 25, the House chose to seat him anyway.
More recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her seat representing New York in the 2018 midterms shortly after her 29th birthday (making her the youngest woman ever elected to Congress and the youngest representative in the 116th Congress).
Then Rep. Madison Cawthorn, 25, in November was elected to represent North Carolina’s 11th District. He was the first person born in the 1990s to be elected to Congress.
“I’ve got, I think, enough experience, good experience, to run for this seat,” Reed said regarding his age and the decision to run now. “And I think it’d be more risky for us to run the same type of candidates that we’ve been running in what will be a more difficult district and expect a different outcome against Ann Wagner.”
