The People's People from Spectrum News

There are many roads that lead to becoming an elected official. As the son of a preacher/auto mechanic and a nurse, Jason Smith’s self-described blue-collar background found him working a series of jobs, graduating early and pursuing a career as a lawyer. After that it wasn’t long before he found himself a Missouri state representative at the very young age of 25. Smith speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about his upbringing and tells some moving stories about why his work in politics means so much to him. He also shares how he convinced a loan officer to give him the money to buy the family farm, as well as his rather unique approach to naming his donkeys.

As a child, Congresswoman Ann Wagner aspired to Broadway stardom. But her hardworking parents made sure she had something to fall back on — even if they didn’t necessarily expect it to be elected office. But after working at two well-known Missouri companies, she found herself married and living in Jefferson City, and that’s exactly what happened.

Wagner speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about her St. Louis upbringing and the experiences that have made her who she is today. They also discuss the value of a dollar, how the arts can affect your life, and how a Christmas party conversation with the president changed everything.

Jay Ashcroft grew up in politics. It’s been a part of his life forever, and the family dinner conversations often centered around it. His childhood also included meeting presidents and Arnold Schwarzenegger, sitting first row for the St. Louis Cardinals, and sneaking around the governor's mansion. And while he also worked as a lifeguard, a Dairy Queen worker, an engineer, a teacher and a lawyer, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that he has ended up where he is now - as an elected official.

Ashcroft speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about his road to becoming Missouri Secretary of State. They also touch on raising a family, and his family’s response to his decision to enter politics, which met with a rather surprising reaction from his mother.

Perhaps there’s no direct path from childhood to Lieutenant Governor, but Mike Kehoe’s story has a few more surprises than one would expect. Raised in northern St. Louis by a hardworking single mother, Kehoe was the youngest of six. He went from being a teenager washing cars at the Ford dealership to owning one. He also became a first-generation farmer. And, of course, Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. 

Kehoe talks with journalist Lindsey Christ about his journey, and why he feels his life experience makes him a good politician. He also discusses the importance of core values, common sense and writing on paper plates.

Dru Mamo Kanuha was just 28 when he was first elected to represent the people of his Kona community. Though his family can trace its local lineage back 12 generations, Kanuha has forged a path in politics all on his own. In this episode of the podcast, he explains how much the local canoe club meant to his childhood sense of community and how it still plays a role in his life today.

Though Kanuha started out helping his father with contracting work and then went to college planning on becoming a marine biologist, he has found a place as the Hawaii State Senate majority leader.

With several life stories that read like a movie script, Hawaii Island Mayor Mitch Roth had a circuitous path to elected office. In this episode of the podcast, he discusses the impact of several key moments in his life, from a teenage plan to take a trip around the world, to a side-job caring for his boss’s elderly mother, to almost losing his life twice.

Roth didn’t plan to run for office and then when he initially did, he says nobody expected him to win. Now, a year into the role of mayor, he is focused on using his life experiences to make a difference for Hawaii County.

Hawaii State Senate President Ron Kouchi hoped to be a high school history teacher and enjoyed reading novels in his spare time. But to get out of a job he was too embarrassed to quit, he began campaigning at age 24 for the Kauai County Council, and that was the beginning of a long career in public service. 

In this episode of the podcast, Kouchi discusses how he ended up in Iowa for college, what he learned from playing sports, the advice his father gave him, and what he now tells people just beginning their careers in politics. He also discusses the impact of local politics and how his particular life experiences have informed his advocacy over the years.

And Kouchi reveals why he thinks his colleagues chose him for a leadership role in the state senate (it involves Japanese curry and pale ale chili). 

Congressman Ed Case has had a life full of adventures, from a childhood “close to nature” in Hilo to working as a jackaroo on a sheep farm in Australia to weathering the culture shock of a small liberal arts college in New England. He first ended up in Washington D.C. almost accidentally as a young man but has found he loves public service and representing the state his family has called home since 1896.

In this podcast episode, Case talks about how he met his wife at his thirtieth high school reunion and how his grandchildren now play a crucial role in his life. He also explains how he sees three distinct roles within his job as a U.S. representative.

Derek Kawakami has gleaned lessons from all sorts of life experiences, from hustling to grow his paper route as a young boy to feeling like an outsider as a teenager to parenting while trying to build a career in public service.

The mayor of Kauai thoughtfully reflects on his life experiences in this episode of the podcast and shares insight into how he structures his days and what his whole family watches together at night (hint: they don’t easily get scared or squeamish). As a local kid who had to be convinced to run for office, he says he grew to love his job so much that he then had to learn to learn a new lesson: how to sometimes say no.

State Senator Lynn DeCoite is a third generation homestead farmer who grows purple sweet potatoes when she is not traveling from island to island representing her constituents in the so-called “canoe district”. She is also a proud grandmother of two, a devoted member of her community and an active hunter, who says she often has to remember to wash the blood of her hands before starting work for the day.

In this episode of The People’s People, Senator DeCoite talks about how she ended up becoming an elected official, even though she “hated politics” and tell stories from her life, like about the first time she got on an airplane and flew to the mainland, with her soon-to-be husband.