Power Profile: Jeanie Riddle, Missouri State Senate
When Sen. Jeanie Riddle retired from teaching, her plan was to go back to school. Now as she approaches her second retirement, this time from the Missouri General Assembly, she realizes she did further her education - just not in the way she intended.
“When originally asked to run for state representative, I said ‘no,’” Riddle said. It was after talking with her family she decided to throw her hat in the race. “My dad told me it would be the best school I ever attended, and he was right.”
Riddle was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2008 and served through 2014, when she was elected to the Missouri Senate. She had never truly dabbled in politics before joining the General Assembly, so there was a significant learning curve. Riddle noted, “you better learn quickly, or you get left behind and so do your constituents.”
During her time in the legislature, Riddle saw all the various versions - eight in total - of the legislation that would eventually enable Ameren’s Smart Energy Plan. She recalled that each year they made tweaks and compromises, fought some of the same fights, and attempted to get the legislation to a point with which both sides could live. And in 2018, they were successful. Four years later in 2022, they extended and expanded that legislation.
Along the way, Riddle also picked up a few passion projects, one of which included studying the history of the 36 women who have served in the state Senate. Their stories are recounted in a book titled “You Can, Too!’’ which was written by current and former female Senators. The book, part of a history project funded by Missouri Humanities and published by Missouri Life, will be distributed to fourth grade classrooms, libraries, and places where children read.
“I have managed to do some things that my constituents wanted, projects of which I am proud,” said Riddle. She pointed to legislation enabling pregnant women to use deadly force to protect their unborn child, a new state-of-the-art state psychiatric hospital in Fulton, funding for the art center in Audrain County, and other projects that benefit the state and her constituents. “Though I didn’t win on everything, I did my best. It has been a good run. I’ve been so fortunate. I’ve made friends all over the state in both parties, in every walk of life. It’s an amazing privilege to get to serve.”
While Riddle does not know what her future holds after her time in the General Assembly other than being grandma, she hopes “if there is something else, I don’t want a bunch of paperwork.”