If you haven't ever heard of Ray Hartmann, that's probably because you haven't watched TV very much in the St. Louis area.
Hartmann worked as a speechwriter for then-Gov. Kit Bond during the latter's first term as Governor (1973-1977). I've heard him say that, back in those days, he thought Bond was somewhat of a moderate Republican, which was why he - whose politics lean far to the left - was comfortable writing speeches for a Republican. As of 1977, Hartmann founded a weekly tabloid newspaper called
The Riverfront Times, and if I remember correctly, served as its Editor-in-Chief for the first several years. "RFT," as it's commonly known, has always hired journalists who lean to the left. Later on, Hartmann appeared pretty much every week on a program - aired on the PBS affiliate station in St. Louis - called "Donnybrook." That program was an obvious copycat of the national PBS program "The McLaughlin Group," except that on "Donnybrook," a lot of the debates were about issues that pertained specifically to the St. Louis region and/or Missouri as a whole. The show debuted on Channel 9, KETC, in January of 1987, with Hartmann one of the original panelists, and he stayed on the show for literally decades. (I haven't watched that show in many years, so I don't know if Hartmann still appears in it.)
Last Friday, he both announced he was running for Congress and filed with the SoS's office. I think it's inevitable he will win the Dem primary hands down.
Gads, he's in his 70s by now, and this is his first effort to run for office?!?
