Mary Ann Perkins is a West St. Louis County native, working mom, and experienced public-service professional running to represent Missouri House District 100.
Mary Ann grew up in the Rockwood School District, attending Ellisville Elementary, Crestview Middle School, and Lafayette High School. Her career eventually took her far beyond Missouri: she spent nearly two decades overseas, first working as a Department of Defense contractor in Germany and later with the United Nations in Lebanon and Thailand. Both of her daughters were born overseas. Eventually, Mary Ann came home to the community that raised her and today works at Washington University in St. Louis.
That combination of deep West County roots and broad professional experience shapes why she’s running.
Mary Ann watched from abroad as life back home became increasingly expensive for ordinary families. Healthcare, childcare, and college costs climbed while wages struggled to keep pace. Gun violence became an increasingly serious concern. And after returning home, she saw a state government too often focused on ideological fights instead of solving the problems families encounter every day.
She believes HD-100 deserves a representative who listens to the people who live there—and who respects the decisions Missourians make at the ballot box. That commitment to representative democracy has become a defining theme of her campaign: when voters speak, Jefferson City should listen. Her campaign communications continue to emphasize voter participation and protecting the ability of Missourians to determine their own future.
Mary Ann is running to protect reproductive freedom, strengthen public education, make healthcare and childcare more affordable, reduce gun violence, defend voting rights, and address the economic pressures making it harder for Missouri families to get ahead.
Public education is especially personal. Mary Ann is herself a product of Rockwood schools, and she understands what strong neighborhood public schools have meant to generations of West County families. She wants Missouri investing in those schools and the teachers and students who depend upon them.
She is also a strong defender of reproductive freedom and of the principle underlying it: politicians should not substitute their judgment for the decisions Missourians have made for themselves.
And Mary Ann brings a practical perspective to affordability. Families shouldn’t have to choose between childcare and advancing their careers, struggle to afford necessary healthcare, or wonder whether their children will be able to afford the education that gives them a path into the middle class.
Her campaign ultimately comes back to a simple idea: government should work for the people it represents.
That makes HD-100 an especially important race. Republican Philip Oehlerking held the seat by only 143 votes in 2024. Mary Ann isn’t trying to make an overwhelmingly Republican community Democratic. She’s competing for a district that is already closely divided and where a handful of additional voters can determine who represents Ballwin in Jefferson City.
Mary Ann Perkins has the local roots, professional experience, and community-focused agenda to finish what Democrats came within 143 votes of accomplishing last time: flipping HD-100.
I am running to represent Ballwin in the Missouri Legislature (House District 100), because we deserve to have a representative who truly represents us – voting for our interests and elevating our voices, not ignoring them.
- Mary Ann Perkins