Jeanette Mott Oxford (born July 16, 1954) is an American activist and politician from

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. She is a currently the Executive Director of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, after having served as a member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

, representing a portion of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she was the first openly lesbian member of the Missouri Legislature.

Biography

Oxford was born in

Eldorado, Illinois Eldorado () is a city in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,122 at the 2010 census, with a 1980 peak of 5,198. Although the city's name is spelled as if it were Spanish, the name was originally "Eldereado" or “Elder-Re ...

and graduated from Cave-in-Rock High School in Cave-in-Rock, Illinois. She received an Associate of Arts degree from Southeastern Illinois College in

Harrisburg, Illinois Harrisburg () is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about southwest of Evansville, Indiana, and southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Its 2020 population was 8,219, and the surrounding Harrisb ...

in 1974 and a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1986. Oxford attended

Eden Theological Seminary Eden Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ in Webster Groves, Missouri, near St. Louis, Missouri. The seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in what was then the American frontier. The pastors soon formed ...

Webster Groves, Missouri Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is home to the main campus of Webster University. Geography Webster Groves is located at ...

and graduated with her Master of Divinity in 1989. Prior to her political career, Oxford served as executive director of the Reform Organization of Welfare (ROWEL) and as a grassroots coordinator for the American Lung Association, both in St. Louis. Oxford's political career began in 2000, when she sought election to the Missouri House of Representatives. She narrowly lost the Democratic primary election to

Russ Carnahan John Russell Carnahan (; born July 10, 1958) is an American politician from the state of Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2013. At the time, the district included the southern ...

. In 2004, Carnahan gave up the State Representative seat to run for Congress. She ran again for the seat, and was successful. She won in a three-way Democratic primary in August 2004, and obtained almost 90% of the vote against a Libertarian opponent in the November 2004 general election. Oxford won re-nomination as the Democratic party candidate in the August 2006 primary, obtaining 81% of the vote against opponent Mark Rice, who also opposed her in the three-way August 2004 primary. She faced only a Libertarian opponent in the November 2006 general election and won by more than eight-to-one. She faced no primary opposition in 2008, though a Libertarian filed to run against her in November.Cumulative List of Offices Filed in Candidate Filing, Missouri (2008)
sos.mo.gov; accessed November 25, 2014. She ran unopposed for re-election in 2010 and was elected to a final term in the House.

Term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s prevented her from seeking a fifth term in 2012.Legislative homepage
house.mo.gov; accessed November 25, 2014. Oxford is an active member of Epiphany

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

in St. Louis, and resides in the Benton Park neighborhood with her partner, Dorothy. She was one of three openly gay members of the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...

, serving alongside Sen. Jolie Justus (D– Kansas City) and Rep. Mike Colona (D–St. Louis). Her campaigns won the backing of the

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Victory F ...

References

External links

Profile
Missouri Association for Social Welfare official website; accessed November 25, 2014.

house.mo.gov/billtracking; accessed November 25, 2014.

, semissourian.com; accessed November 25, 2014
Profile
votesmart.org; accessed November 25, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford, Jeanette Mott Lesbian politicians LGBT Protestants LGBT state legislators in Missouri LGBT people from Illinois Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Politicians from St. Louis United Church of Christ members Women state legislators in Missouri 1954 births Living people People from Eldorado, Illinois 21st-century American women