Last night, Missouri voters decided who they want to appear on the November ballot, and made their positions known regarding a number of ballot issues that appeared on the ballot as well. Though I ran unopposed (as did my Republican opponent), I am now officially the Democratic nominee to run against Republican incumbent Councilman Mark Harder in the November General Election. Harder is a politician who’s held this seat for 12 years and watched St. Louis County falter while most often pointing fingers, playing politics, and encouraging drama instead of championing solutions to address St. Louis County’s challenges. We most definitely deserve better than this.

After planting around 100 signs in 28 polling locations around District 7 Monday evening, I spent all day Tuesday introducing myself to voters at a few polling locations where I need to improve my name recognition. I was somewhat surprised to find that a number of folks were already familiar with my name, and I hope that they’ll become supportive of our campaign as we work to unseat Mark Harder in November.

I’m looking forward to earning the opportunity to serve with Jake Zimmerman as our new St. Louis County Executive, Doug Clemons as our new St. Louis County Assessor, and Melissa Price Smith, who was officially elected as the Democratic nominee running to serve as the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney. However, in order to make that scenario a reality, we need to make sure that Jake, Doug, and Melissa are elected in the November General Election and WE need to win this race so that I can serve as the next St. Louis County Councilman representing the 7th Council District.

I was also pleased to see Amendments 4 and 5 defeated resoundingly statewide, while we will continue to support our State Parks by approving Amendment 2.

In St. Louis County, Proposition U failed but the County Council has indicated that it will appear on the November ballot once again. Proposition C passed, which will change the date when an elected term ends as well as eliminating a restriction on raising elected officials’ salaries prior to the November election.

As of today we have 90 days until the General Election, and we need to earn the support of about 43,000 District 7 voters by November 3. The good thing is that we’re starting from a competitive margin in what may end up being a wave year with a number of Democratic candidates within this district doing the work to try to flip their districts blue. (Last night we earned 15,103 votes to Mark Harder’s 15,697 votes. By contrast, 2022 Democratic candidate Kristine Callis earned 10,096 votes to Harder’s 13,917 votes.)

This race can be won, but we will most definitely have to do the work to earn the victory. For my part, I’m already making my list of endorsers and supporters to reach out to for the General Election as well as getting ready to canvass District 7 daily until November 3.

I spent today organizing my schedule for the next 90 days in order to establish a productive daily routine that has the potential to deliver a victory on November 3 as well as examining vote totals from yesterday’s election in contrast to Primary Elections from the recent past. It appears that we have have fertile ground to earn support for this campaign going into the General Election, but again it’s imperative that we actively engage with District 7 voters to earn their trust and confidence that I will help to steer St. Louis County toward a safer, healthier, more affordable, and more prosperous future as opposed to more of the “politics as usual” that Mark Harder demonstrates year after year.

As always, I’d appreciate your support for our efforts to unseat Councilman Harder, but I’m committed to setting the tone for the hard work and dedication necessary to turn what’s now my name on the November ballot into a decisive victory for this campaign and District 7 residents. We deserve actual representation on the St. Louis County Council instead of a cynical seat warmer who’s been MIA for his constituents and municipal partners for far too long.
You can support our grassroots, people-powered campaign by giving today at KIEHNE2026.COM (http://kiehne2026.com) .

You can sign up to join #KiehneAction as a volunteer at KIEHNEFORMISSOURI.COM/VOLUNTEER (https://kiehneformissouri.com/volunteer) .

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On Wednesday, August 5 the real work begins, and it’s my goal to be out engaging with District 7 voters for 90 days straight. To follow along with what this campaign is doing follow us at @kiehneaction on most social media platforms. You can join #KiehneAction at KiehneAction.com (http://kiehneaction.com) . Let’s lean in to this campaign and defeat Mark Harder in November. The numbers are in our favor, the wind is at our backs a bit, and if we do the work we will deliver a historic victory in November!!!

John Kiehne is running for St. Louis County Council opposing Republican incumbent District 7 Councilman Mark Harder. Councilman Harder has served on the St. Louis County Council for 12 years, and while St. Louis County is the main economic generator for this region and the state of Missouri, St. Louis County has struggled to maintain sustained growth, meet critical obligations, and is heading for budget shortfalls that threaten St. Louis County’s ability to function.

If elected, John Kiehne will not only focus on fiscal responsibility, public safety, and repairing and maintaining St. Louis County roads and bridges, but also lean in to promoting economic growth and development to revitalize not only St. Louis County but the entire St. Louis region.

For too long politicians have spent precious time and energy attacking each other and the St. Louis region instead of celebrating our assets and addressing our challenges. I believe that the residents of District 7 and St. Louis County deserve representation who will fight to help make St. Louis County residents more healthy, safe, secure, and prosperous.

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