Politically Speaking

This week’s Politically Speaking is a southeast Missouri affair as St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies welcome House Majority Leader Todd Richardson to the show. The Poplar Bluff Republican is a second-generation lawmaker. His father, Mark Richardson, served in the House GOP leadership in the 1990s, a time when Republicans had been in the minority for years. Now, Richardson is the second most powerful lawmaker in a chamber dominated by his party – and has the inside track to become the next speaker of the Missouri House once House Speaker John Diehl, R-Town and Country, departs due to term limits.