Ann Wagner

Ann Wagner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Todd Akin
United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
In office August 16, 2005 – June 27, 2009
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Peter Terpeluk
Succeeded by	Cynthia Stroum
Personal details
Born	Ann Louise Trousdale September 13, 1962 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Raymond Wagner Jr.
Alma mater	University of Missouri, Columbia
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	House website

Ann Louise Wagner (née Trousdale;^[1] born September 13, 1962) is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district, serving since 2013. The district includes most of St. Louis' southern and western suburbs.

Previously, she served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 2005 to 2009. Prior to her diplomatic post, Wagner was Chair of the Missouri Republican Party for six years, from 1999 until 2005, and Co-chair of the Republican National Committee for four years.

Early life and education

Wagner was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, attended the all-girls' Cor Jesu Academy, and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1984 with a BSBA from the business school with an emphasis in logistics. After college, she went to work in the private sector and held management positions at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City and Ralston Purina in St. Louis.^[2]

Pre-congressional political career

1990s

Wagner entered Republican politics in 1990, heading the GOP's efforts during the decennial redistricting of Missouri. In 1992 she was state director of the campaign for the re-election of President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.

2000s

Chairwoman of Missouri GOP

She was elected to her first term of office as chair of the Missouri party in 1999, becoming the first woman to occupy the position. Her most notable achievement in that role came during her second two-year term when she oversaw the party's taking of majority control of both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly, winning the Senate in a 2001 special election and the House in the 2002 general election, the first time this had been seen for over 40 years. During her third term, the party held its majorities in both chambers and also took the Governor's seat for the first time in 12 years with the election of Matt Blunt in 2004, giving the GOP complete control of state government for the first time since 1921. Her six years as chairwoman saw George W. Bush carry Missouri in both of his presidential bids, and also saw the Republican win a majority of the state's congressional delegation.

National campaigning

In 2001 she took office as a co-chair of the Republican National Committee, and helped preside over the 2004 Republican National Convention. In this role she took a strong role in directing the development of the Winning Women initiative, whose aim was to improve the image of the GOP towards women and demonstrate the relevance of its platform to them. Her work with the committee took her to 48 states. In January 2005, she left her role as co-chair after one term.

In 2004, Wagner was a fundraising "ranger" for President George W. Bush.

U.S. Ambassadorship

On February 20, 2005, Wagner was elected to a fourth term as Chair of the state GOP. On May 16 she was nominated by President Bush to the position of United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. She had no previous diplomatic experience. On July 16, 2005 she was confirmed in the post by a voice vote in the United States Senate, after which Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo) said that she was, "A considerate woman, whose character and abilities uniquely qualify her to represent our nation."

On August 1 she was sworn in as Ambassador by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the Harry S. Truman Building of the US Department of State in Washington D.C..^[3]

2010s

2010 U.S. Senate election

After returning from Luxembourg, Wagner served as Chairman for Roy Blunt's successful 2010 U.S. Senate campaign. Blunt defeated Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan 54%-41%.

2011 RNC Chairman election

On November 29, 2010, Wagner sent a video message to the committee members of the Republican National Committee announcing she was running for RNC Chair.^[4] The election was held in January 2011,^[5] and Wagner conceded after the sixth round after receiving 17 votes^[6] The contest was won by Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

U.S. House of Representatives

2012 election

Wagner announced her candidacy for Missouri's 2nd congressional district after incumbent Todd Akin announced he would not run for re-election in order to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012. She received endorsements from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, and the pro-life women's group the Susan B. Anthony List. She won the four-candidate Republican primary—the real contest in this strongly Republican district—with 66% of the vote.^[7] In November, she defeated Democratic nominee Glenn Koenen 60%-37%.^[8] She is the third Republican woman elected to Congress from Missouri (after Jo Ann Emerson and Vicky Hartzler), and the second who was not elected as a stand-in for her husband (after Hartzler; Emerson was originally elected to finish out the term of her late husband, Bill Emerson).

2014 election

In her first re-election, Wagner was unopposed in the Republican primary, and in the general election she won 64.12% of the vote against Democratic opponent Arthur Lieber (32.62%) and Libertarian opponent Bill Slantz (3.26%).

Tenure

The following is an incomplete list of legislation sponsored by Rep. Wagner.

• Retail Investor Protection Act (H.R. 2374; 113th Congress) – a bill that would delay the Department of Labor's regulations on when a financial advisor must be considered a fiduciary until the Securities and Exchange Commission has made their own decision on the matter.
• Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation Act of 2014 (H.R. 4225; 113th Congress) – a bill that would prohibit knowingly benefitting financially from, receiving anything of value from, or distributing advertising that offers a commercial sex act in a manner that violates federal criminal code prohibitions against sex trafficking of children or of any person by force, fraud, or coercion.^[9] The bill would make it a felony to post prostitution ads online.^[10] Wagner said that Congress was "taking steps towards ending what I would call modern-day slavery."^[10] Wagner argued that her bill had been reviewed by the Justice Department in an attempt to ensure that it did not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's guarantee of the right to free speech.^[10] Wagner argued that the House had not passed any legislation on human trafficking in 13 years, and that "our efforts to combat sex trafficking need to be updated to match the problem as it stands today."^[11]
• Retail Investor Protection Act (HR 1090; 114th Congress) -- a revised version of legislation sponsored by Rep. Wagner that would delay the DOL's regulations regarding fiduciary advisors passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 27, 2015 by a vote of 245-186.^[12]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services^[13]
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Personal life

Wagner is married to Ray Wagner, a former Missouri director of revenue, and has three children: Raymond III (Married to Julia, [nee: Grawe] of St. Louis, Missouri), a recent West Point graduate stationed at Fort Campbell with the 101st Airborne, Stephen, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and Mary Ruth, a junior at Miami University. ^[2]

Her mother-in-law was Loretto Wagner, a noted pro-life activist, who died on June 17, 2015, of complications from diabetes at age 81.^[14]

Recent events

Congresswoman Wagner recently spoke at a Ripon Society forum and addressed the 2013 IRS scandal and tax reform. Wagner stated that it was the Administration's lack of oversight and connection to the issue that has caused these problems. [It is] "...a failure of leadership when you have a president who is so disconnected—not from our conference and our party, but from his own Democrat Party and other leadership here on the Hill. This is the trickledown effect of real arrogance here."^[15]

On September 30, 2013, after the beginning of the government shutdown, Wagner asked for her pay to be withheld.^[16]

References

1. Wagman, Jake (January 11, 2011). "Ann Wagner makes strong bid to head GOP". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20131004215542/http://annwagner.com/meet-ann/. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. "Wagner confirmed as ambassador to Luxembourg". St. Louis Business Journal. June 17, 2005. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
4. Blake, Aaron (November 29, 2010). "Wagner launches bid for RNC chair". voices.washingtonpost.com (Washington Post). Retrieved November 29, 2010.
5. "Maria Cino Officially Enters Race For RNC Chair - ABC News". Blogs.abcnews.com. 2010-12-11. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
6. "Wagner out of the race to lead RNC | Elections live". Stltoday.com. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
7. "MO District 2 - R Primary Race - Aug 07, 2012". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
8. "MO District 2 Race - Nov 06, 2012". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
9. "H.R. 4225 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
10. Zagier, Alan Scher (13 March 2014). "Wagner promotes bill to shut down online sex ads". The Washington Times. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
11. "Not for Sale: The SAVE Act". House Office of Ann Wagner. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
12. Ann, Wagner, (2015-10-28). "Actions - H.R.1090 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Retail Investor Protection Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
13. "COMMITTEE MEMBERS". financialservices.house.gov. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
14. "Loretto Wagner, longtime St. Louis-area anti-abortion activist, dies." St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
15. "This is something that sends chills down regular Americans’ spines". The Ripon Society. May 21, 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.

External links

• Congresswoman Ann Wagner official U.S. House site
• Ann Wagner for Congress
• Ann Wagner at DMOZ
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress