Jolie Justus

Jolie L. Justus
Member of the Missouri Senate
from the 10th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2007
Preceded by Charles Wheeler
Personal details
Born February 24, 1971 (1971-02-24) (age 41)
Kansas City, Missouri
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Shonda Garrison
Residence Kansas City, Missouri
Website justusforsenate.com

Jolie L. Justus (born February 24, 1971 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American lawyer and politician from Missouri. A Democrat, she is a member of the Missouri State Senate, representing the state's 10th District in Kansas City.

Contents

Early life and career

A lawyer by trade, she was raised in Branson, Missouri where she attended Branson High School.[1] She then went on to earn degrees at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield and the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. She now works for the Kansas City law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, serving as Director of Pro Bono Services.

Political career

She was elected to the Senate in 2006, winning the Democratic primary election held on August 8, 2006 with 33% of the vote in a four-candidate field. Her nearest contender, former state representative Jason Klumb, got 30%.[2] She was widely regarded as the most progressive candidate in the race, supporting minimum wage increases, abortion rights and stem cell research.[3] In the general election, she faced only nominal Republican opposition in what is one of the state's most reliably Democratic districts. She defeated her Republican opponent Jerry Mounts by 72% to 28%. She took office in January 2007.

Personal

A lesbian, she married Shonda Garrison in Iowa when that state legalized same-sex marriage in 2009.[4] They live together in downtown Kansas City and have one daughter.

Justus was the first openly gay member of the Missouri Senate and only the third ever publicly gay member of the Missouri General Assembly, after Representatives Tim Van Zandt (D-Kansas City) and Jeanette Mott Oxford (D-St. Louis). In the 2011–12 biennium, she serves as one of three openly LGBT legislators, alongside Mott Oxford and Rep. Mike Colona (D-St. Louis). Her campaigns have won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.[5] In 2009, Senator Justus was named to The Advocate's "Forty Under 40" list, a list of forty young leaders of the LGBT community.[6]

References

  1. ^ Justus for Senate
  2. ^ http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=173&oid=39289
  3. ^ http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/14857061.htm
  4. ^ "They say 'I do' — 17 times". St. Louis Post Dispatch. 2009-05-03. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/719C0EC451A8EDF9862575AB000090F7?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2009-05-03. 
  5. ^ Simon, Stephanie (August 7, 2006). "More Gays Advocating Legislating - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gayelect7aug07,1,285495.story?coll=la-headlines-nation. 
  6. ^ "Forty Under 40". The Advocate. http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Cover_Stories/Forty_Under_40/. 

External links

Preceded by
Charles Wheeler		 Missouri State Senator from the 10th District
2007—		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Members of the Missouri State Senate
96th General Assembly (2011–2012)
President of the Senate: Peter Kinder (R) • President pro Tempore: Rob Mayer (R) • Majority Leader: Tom Dempsey (R) • Minority Leader: Victor Callahan (D)
   
  1.    Jim Lembke (R)
  2.    Scott Rupp (R)
  3.    Kevin Engler (R)
  4.    Joseph Keaveny (D)
  5.    Robin Wright-Jones (D)
  6.    Mike Kehoe (R)
  7.    Jane Cunningham (R)
  8.    Will Kraus (R)
  9.    Kiki Curls (D)
  1.    Jolie Justus (D)
  2.    Victor Callahan (D)
  3.    Brad Lager (R)
  4.    Timothy Green (D)
  5.    Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D)
  6.    Eric Schmitt (R)
  7.    Dan W. Brown (R)
  8.    LuAnn Ridgeway (R)
  9.    Brian Munzlinger (R)
  1.    Kurt Schaefer (R)
  2.    Jay Wasson (R)
  3.    Bill Stouffer (R)
  4.    Ryan McKenna (D)
  5.    Tom Dempsey (R)
  6.    John Lamping (R)
  7.    Robert Mayer (R)
  8.    Brian Nieves (R)
  9.    Jason Glennon Crowell (R)
  1.    Mike Parson (R)
  2.    Jack Goodman (R)
  3.    Bob Dixon (R)
  4.    David Pearce (R)
  5.    Ron Richard (R)
  6.    Chuck Purgason (R)
  7.    Robert Schaaf (R)