Judith W. Baker (born April 10, 1960) is an American Democratic politician, small business owner, and educator 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 former 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 ...

and a former Region VII Director for the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

.Secretary Sebelius Announces New HHS Regional Directors News Release
''www.HHS.gov'', November 17, 2009 Baker was a candidate for Missouri State Treasurer in the 2016 election, but was defeated in the general election by Eric Schmitt. Baker ran for the

Missouri Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two ye ...

in the 2020 general election for Missouri's 19th Senate District. She lost to incumbent

Caleb Rowden Caleb Rowden is an American politician. He is a member of the Missouri State Senate, having served since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Rowden previously served in the Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representat ...

Early life and education

Judy Baker was born in Columbia, Missouri to elementary school teacher Beverly (Briggs) Wall and physician Dr. Norman Wall. Her father was a military doctor, which prompted several moves for the family during her youth. Baker graduated in 1978 from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. She went on to obtain a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Educational Psychology from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

in 1981, a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1986, and a

in Health Administration from the University of Missouri in 2002. Prior to entering politics Baker worked a variety of jobs in the healthcare management field until starting her own consulting firm, Cura Advantage. Baker has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia College, the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Personal life

She resides in Columbia with her husband, Dr. John Baker, a Baptist minister, and three children.

Politics

Judy Baker was first elected to the Missouri House in November 2004, defeating Republican Robert (Bob) Northrup. She ran unopposed in 2006 to earn her second term. While in the Missouri House she founded the bi-partisan "Healthy Missourians" caucus, a group who advocated preventative medicine and responsible approaches to Missouri healthcare. In 2008 Baker aspired to higher office, running for U.S. Congress in

Missouri's 9th Congressional District Missouri's 9th congressional district was a US congressional district, dissolved in 2013, that last encompassed rural Northeast Missouri, the area known as " Little Dixie," along with the larger towns of Columbia, Fulton, Kirksville and Unio ...

to replace

Kenny Hulshof Kenneth C. "Kenny" Hulshof (; born May 22, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who represented in the United States House of Representatives. He was the unsuccessful nominee of the Republican Party for Governor of Missouri in the 2008 el ...

. After beating three fellow Democrats in the August primary Baker lost a close November general election to Republican and fellow State Representative

Blaine Luetkemeyer William Blaine Luetkemeyer ( ; born May 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Luetkemeyer formerly served as a member of the Missouri House of ...

. Following the defeat Baker returned to the private sector and teaching at Columbia College until November, 2009 when she was appointed the regional HHS director by Health & Human Services Secretary

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...

. Baker would hold that position for just over two years until resigning in early December, 2011. Baker was one of eight Democratic candidates for Missouri Lieutenant Governor in 2012. She came in second to former Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee, who was defeated in the general election by Republican incumbent

Peter Kinder Peter Dickson Kinder (born May 12, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2017. He was appointed as a co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority in August 2017, serving in ...

. In the 2016 election cycle, Baker filed as a candidate for Missouri State Treasurer. Her only opponent for the Democratic nomination was Patrick Contreras, of Kansas City, whom she defeated 59% to 41%. She went on to face term-limited Republican State Senator Eric Schmitt of suburban St. Louis, as well as two third-party candidates and a write-in candidate, in the November general election. Schmitt won with 56.65% of the vote, to Baker's 39.15%. In the 2020 election cycle, Baker was the sole Democratic candidate for the

, District 19, taking on incumbent

, who was unopposed in the Republican primary. She lost 48.33% to 51.60%.

Electoral history

State Representative

United States Representative

Lieutenant Governor

Treasurer

State Senate

References

*''Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2005-2006.'' Jefferson City, MO: Secretary of State.

External links

Missouri House of Representatives - Representative Judy Baker (D) 25th District
official MO House website
Judy Baker for MO Senate
2020 Campaign website * http://www.showmebaker.com/
U.S. Congress campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

*''Follow the Money'' - Judy Baker
20062004
Missouri House campaign contributions * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Judy 1960 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni University of Missouri alumni Baptists from Virginia Columbia College (Missouri) faculty Politicians from Columbia, Missouri Politicians from Chesapeake, Virginia United States Department of Health and Human Services officials Women state legislators in Missouri American women academics 21st-century American women