A podcast host is the latest candidate seeking to challenge Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner in next year's high stakes midterm elections.
Wildwood resident Fred Wellman announced on Wednesday he'll run in the Democratic primary for Missouri's 2nd Congressional District, which takes in portions of St. Louis, St. Charles and Warren counties and all of Franklin County.
Wellman is the host of the On Democracy podcast, which is on the national MediasTouch network. He was also the executive director of the Lincoln Project, a group that, among other things, sought to steer Republicans disillusioned with President Donald Trump toward Democratic candidates.
In a statement announcing his campaign, Wellman stressed his experience serving in the military and his desire to protect popular federal social services programs.
"I dedicated 22 years to serving our nation in the Army, and when I came home, I carried that same commitment to service into my community," Wellman said. "I'm running for Congress because the people of the 2nd District deserve a representative who puts service above self and delivers on what matters most: lowering costs, expanding access to healthcare, supporting our veterans, and protecting Social Security and Medicare."
In a statement, Wagner campaign spokesman Arthur Bryant said Wellman is "an out of touch lackey who had to file for bankruptcy and led the Lincoln Project, the sex scandal plagued group that exists just to take people's money and line their own pockets."
Wellman alluded to his bankruptcy in his opening campaign ad. He became executive director of the Lincoln Project after one of its founders left amid a sex scandal.
The 2nd District has been competitive since 2018, especially as the St. Louis County portion of the district gets more Democratic-leaning. But even when she faced well-funded challengers, Wagner, R-Ballwin, prevailed – especially after the district became more Republican-leaning after 2022.
Earlier this year the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Wagner as one of its targeted Republican candidates. Leaders of that group are banking on suburban districts, like Wagner's, becoming more competitive if Trump struggles nationally in next year's midterms.
Wellman criticized Wagner for voting for a wide-ranging bill that cut taxes, restricted immigration and curtailed a popular tax that funds state Medicaid programs.
"The 'she's gotta go' moment came when she voted to cut taxes for multi-millionaires like herself while cutting hundreds of thousands of Missourians off health care and raising premiums for the rest of us," Wellman said. "Voters in the 2nd District deserve a representative who shows up, listens, and takes action to help working families get ahead, instead of enriching herself and her billionaire friends."
After saying that Wellman was out of touch with the district for, among other things, criticizing Republicans who wanted to ban gender affirming care for minors, Bryant added: "He now has to participate in a race to the left with his many other Democratic opponents in the primary, and Congresswoman Wagner looks forward to beating whomever emerges from that race."
In addition to Wellman, Democrat Chuck Summers also has announced his candidacy. Ryan Sheridan is running against Wagner in the GOP primary.
It's unclear whether the 2nd District's terrain will be different in 2026. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a new congressional map that trades portions of St. Charles and Warren counties for part of Jefferson County and Washington, Crawford and Gasconade counties. That would make Wagner's district more Republican, but not overwhelmingly so.
But that map may not go into effect if opponents of the redistricting plan gather enough signatures to put the proposal up for a statewide vote. If backers of the referendum collect enough signatures by mid-December, the new map wouldn't go into effect until there's a statewide vote in November 2026. But the legislature could move the date of the referendum to the spring of next year, so that the new map could potentially go into effect for the 2026 election.
And several lawsuits were filed challenging the new Missouri congressional map. They contend, among other things, that lawmakers don't have the authority to redraw congressional districts in the middle of the decade.
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