Assessor aspires to House job
Longtime official makes bid in Ninth District.

Paul Quinn has long desired to be a player in state politics, but family life came first.

Quinn, the Monroe County assessor, said taking care of his nine children was a disincentive in running for state representative. But throughout the years, he said, he kept the hope alive.

"It’s something that I’ve wanted to do all my life," Quinn said.

Things changed for Quinn after Judy, his wife of close to 40 years, died of cancer in 2003. With most of his children out of the house and Rep. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, vacating the Ninth District seat to make a run for the state Senate, Quinn decided to run for state representative.

Now, as he faces off against Ewell Lawson, a Claire McCaskill aide, for the chance to face Howard County Treasurer Kathyrne Harper in November, Quinn said his role as an elected official for 22 years would make him effectively serve the largely rural communities in the district.

Quinn, 62, was born in Hannibal and grew up on a farm near Monroe City, where he still lives. He served as a Monroe County commissioner for 12 years before he was elected to three consecutive terms as county assessor.

"My experiences in county government and also owning and living on a family farm make me more aware of the issues that people have," he said.

Shelby County Assessor Billy Gibson said it means something that Quinn was elected three times for one of the most difficult jobs in county government.

"If you weren’t treating people equally, you wouldn’t have been re-elected to three terms," Gibson said. "People may not like the job, but they respect you if you treat them all the same."

Gibson said that Quinn’s election as treasurer of the Missouri State Assessors Association reflects the respect of his colleagues. "We have a lot of trust in him," Gibson said.

Kathy Anderson, a former neighbor of Quinn, said her longtime friend has always been a person who would go out of his way to keep his word.

"If at any time I would need to talk to him, he would be available, he would make a point," Anderson said. "We’re there for each other."

She said that neighborly courtesy extends to the political realm as well.

"I know maybe it’s trite that the cards say ‘He’s committed to the district,’ " Anderson said. "But should he win, that’s exactly what he’ll be. Once he says he’s going to do something, consider it done."

Quinn said his experience in family farming is a good basis for working on agricultural issues in the legislature.

"I feel that the district is primarily a rural district," Quinn said. "I think we need someone that can not only be a spokesman for the counties involved, but also be able to sit on the Agriculture Committee. We’ve been well-represented before. We need someone now."

Quinn said he opposes sale of some assets of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, citing his children’s experience with paying for college.

"I think that the people who started that started it for the right reasons: trying to help students get loans," Quinn said. "For the ones who have loans, not knowing for sure what the interest rate is going to be," that "scares me."

He blasted the state legislature for making Medicaid cuts without a carefully conducted study, which he said could have prevented the cuts from hurting senior citizens.

"Sometimes when we go in to making cuts, we need to really study what, who, how and where it’s going to affect people," Quinn said. "They made cuts, and then next year, they set up the commission to look and see where they made them at. There isn’t a state or county or city government that wouldn’t look into the cuts they made."

Quinn said people want government to move proactively in health care.

"There’s so many senior citizens that I talk to that feel very frustrated," Quinn said. "A lot of them retired 15 or 20 years ago and they don’t have the income that some people have retiring right now. There has not been a cost-of-living increase in the circuit breaker, which helps retired senior citizens pay local real estate taxes over the nine years that I’ve been assessor. And they are struggling, deeply struggling with how to make ends meet."

Quinn summarized his differences with his opponent.

"There’s quite a bit of difference between Ewell and myself," Quinn said. "One, I have chosen to work inside the county. He has worked in Jefferson City. I think that’s where the differences are."

Quinn described himself as unequivocally anti-abortion, opposed to same-sex marriage and "strongly" supportive of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. He’s against a bill to dispose of campaign finance contribution limits.

"I think it ought to be where it’s a level playing field and not where people are able to put big money in there," he said.

Anderson, Quinn’s neighbor, said after decades of Democratic representation in a district that tends to be socially conservative, a candidate will need to work hard to win in November.

"I think it’s going to be tough," she said. "People are wanting change and I think the November election will provide a tough campaign. You can’t consider anything a shoo-in nowadays. I think Paul has been preparing for this campaign in his mind for a long time. He’s very dedicated to his campaign and I think he can do it."

Quinn predicted that his outreach to people would factor into his success.

"What I’m going to do is as much personal contact to let people know who I am and what I stand for," Quinn said. "I think the people will vote for the person they think is right for the job."

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Reach Jason Rosenbaum at (573) 815-1724 or jrosenbaum@tribmail.com.

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