Military veteran Fred Wellman eked out a victory in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, teeing him up for a tough race against 13-year-incumbent Congresswoman Ann Wagner.
Wellman’s primary battle with Joan VonDras came down to just 2,500 votes. In a brief interview Wednesday, Wellman acknowledged he’d had a late night. Asked how many hours of sleep he’d gotten, he said, “I took a little Tylenol PM and knocked my ass out about 12:30, so I got about five.” He added that he doesn’t control when his big poodle Ash wakes him up.
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But despite that lack of sleep, Wellman sounded energetic. He said the race that will play out over the next three months will be all about money: regular people in the district feeling pinched; the money Wagner has made during her time in Congress; and Wellman’s quest to close the funding gap with his opponent.
Wellman says that since he started running, the economy is the issue he’s heard voters express more anxiety about than any other. “The number one thing I hear is I’m worried about my kids’ future. I’m worried about making ends meet, and that’s only gotten worse since we started this campaign because of the Iran War and more tariff chaos,” he says.
It’s also an issue that makes sense specifically in a run against Wagner. The congresswoman’s estimated personal wealth has tripled since taking office, according to Quiver Quantitative, an analytics platform that tracks nontraditional financial data, such as the stock trades of politicians. It estimated Wagner’s net worth to be around $26 million, up from an estimated $6 million when she first took office.
Wellman is also hoping to paint Wagner as someone out of touch with St. Louis, who is “very comfortable in Washington, D.C.”
A PAC supporting Wagner didn’t do her any favors in a mailer that was circulated on her behalf leading up to the primary, showing the congresswoman standing in front of an outline of the state of Georgia. Likewise, Wellman notes there is a graphic her campaign uses to tout the endorsement from President Donald Trump which features a photo of the Arch. The Arch is not in the 2nd Congressional District.
However, even if Wellman can easily articulate the case he plans to make to voters over the next three months, he clearly has his work cut out for him. The primary race was expensive—Wellman has already spent about $900,000 from last September through this July. (VonDras spent $207,000 through July, records show.)
As a result, as of last reporting, Wellman has just $240,000 cash on hand compared to a $4.2 million for Wagner’s campaign. Most pollsters currently have the race as either safe GOP or leaning GOP He has to hope that the money spigot gets turned on.
Arthur Bryant, a spokesman for Wagner, said that the congresswoman has “lived a life of public service focused on making life more affordable for Missouri families, protecting them from violent criminals, and improving the quality of life for her constituents.”
He described the election between Wellman and Wagner as a choice between a candidate with a track record of delivering results and “the Democrats’ lurch to the left embracing socialism and the government takeover of your life, open borders, men in girls sports, and higher taxes.”
And when it comes to matters of money, Wellman is not without his own issues. The entrepreneur has filed for bankruptcy twice and has liens he is currently paying off.
When Wellman talked to SLM, he said that he’d been on the phone all morning. Up until the night before, he said, it was harder to make the case for his campaign to donors. “A lot of people are waiting for the primary to be over. There’s a lot of races. So a lot of people say, ‘Hey, look, I’m not going to invest in you until you win your primary.”
He also said that now that U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell (D-St. Louis) is considered pretty much a shoe-in for the race in the First Congressional District, Wellman’s base of potential donors extends across the city/county line. “A lot of those good folks in St. Louis city are going to reach out,” he said.
