Former Sikeston mayor to run for 148th House seat as 'Reagan-style' Republican

SIKESTON, Mo. -- From Capitol Hill to Sikeston City Hall, Josh Bill has worked in various levels of government.

Now, the former Sikeston mayor hopes voters will give him the opportunity to serve once more -- this time in Missouri's House of Representatives in the new 148th District.

And his political leanings, he said, involve less government, not more.

"What I want from state government is a fair rate of taxation, reasonable basic services at the local level and beyond that more or less to be left alone," said Bill, 61.

Bill cites his diverse governmental background, much of it in Washington, D.C., where he worked for three Republican members of Congress, including the late Bill Emerson. He also worked behind the scenes on various campaigns and for the U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services.

Bill also served on the Sikeston City Council for nine years, including the last year as mayor, which was then a yearly appointment by the council.

So far, Bill is the only person, Republican or Democrat, to declare his candidacy for the 148th, which covers the eastern part of Scott County and part of Mississippi County.

If it stays that way until February's filing deadline -- and not everyone thinks it will -- Bill will run unopposed.

But at least one prominent Scott County Democrat says he believes a Democrat, and possibly another Republican, will step forward to run for the seat. Scott County Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn said Bill shouldn't expect to coast his way through.

"That's not the way it's going to happen," said Ziegenhorn, who served in the Missouri House for 14 years. "Who knows what's going to happen?"

But he said he knows of several Democrats who are thinking about running for the seat. "It's far from over," he said.

Still, for now, Bill stands alone.

Bill was born in Overland Park, Kan., to a salesman father and a homemaker mother. The married father of three graduated from Kenyon College, a small liberal arts school in Ohio with a degree in history and political philosophy.

After graduation, the politically minded Bill hoped to go to Washington in some capacity, but his first "real job" was at a weekly newspaper in southwest Virginia.

While there, he caught the eye of congressman William Wampler, who hired Bill to be his press secretary through the election campaign of 1976. He worked in that job for three years until he left to do campaign consulting work. For about a year and a half, he worked on campaigns for attorney general and city council candidates in Virginia.

Soon after, he got a job on Capitol Hill as the legislative director for Robert Bauman, a Maryland congressman. It was while working for Bauman that he met Emerson.

Bauman was defeated in the next election and Emerson was elected. Emerson asked Bill to be his chief of staff. He helped Emerson set up his district offices and organize some staffing for less than a year when he took a job in the Department of Health and Human Services as the congressional liaison to the budget and appropriations committees of the House and Senate.

"The election of Ronald Reagan was a dream come true for me," Bill said. "I wanted to work in his administration, and when I had the opportunity, I did."

If elected, Bill said he will be a "free-market, Reagan-style Republican."

Later, he started a firm called Targeted Research Associates, a firm he ran for five years implementing information systems, such as one that tracked all federal expenditures geographically.

Then in 1987, he and his wife decided to move to Sikeston, where his wife's family was from. He got a job working in insurance, which he did until just a few years ago.

But he stayed politically active, including working to get U.S. 60 converted to four lanes. He was elected to the Sikeston City Council in 1992, where he served until 2001, the last year as mayor.

Issues he'd like to tackle in Jefferson City include taking a look at tax credits, specifically those aimed at low-income housing. Bill remains unconvinced that the money is going toward the poor, citing a report by then-state auditor Susan Montee.

The audit showed that of every $1 that was given by the state for a tax credit, only 35 cents was making it to construction costs.

Bill did take some public criticism in 2010, when he accused Democrat Tommy Sowers, who was running against U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, of having a fundraiser in a Washington, D.C., gay bar. While some said the accusation smacked of innuendo about Sowers' orientation, Bill denies that today.

"I researched the bar that he put on Facebook as the site for his fundraiser," Bill said. "It was a gay bar. I just thought that, no question, it was offensive to the values that the people here share. I think that shows a serious error of judgment. That's all I was pointing out."

Bill already has some supporters. Thresia Brinkley, a member of the Scott County Republican Committee, said she will support him.

"He has conservative values," she said. "He is conservative not just in his moral beliefs, but in his financial beliefs. He could really help with the budget. I believe he could help turn our state around."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Sikeston, MO