Luann Ridgeway is an attorney who served in several elected government offices . A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, she 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 ...

elected in 1992 and serving through 2002 and

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 yea ...

elected in 2004 and serving through 2012. Ridgeway served as the Eastern District Commissioner of

Clay County, Missouri Clay County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 253,335, making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Liber ...

, elected 2012 through 2020. She announced she would not run for reelection in 2020 and returned to private life in 2021.

Biography

Ridgeway was born and raised in

Moberly, Missouri Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,974 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri metropolitan area. History Moberly was founded in 1866, and named after Colonel William E. Moberly ...

. She attended

William Woods University William Woods University is a private university in Fulton, Missouri. Founded in 1870, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Expanding its mission to address the need for graduate and adult-oriented programs, the instit ...

and

Westminster College, Missouri Westminster College is a private college in Fulton, Missouri. It was established in 1851 as Fulton College. National Churchill Museum, America's National Churchill Museum (formerly the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library) is a national histor ...

. Ridgeway received the prestigious Presidential Scholars Award while attending Williams Woods University. She received a BA degree with Magna Cum Laude honors at

with a double major in political science and history. She received her JD degree at

University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, and also studied at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Ridgeway is an active participant in Bible-based ministries. She served as a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Home Missionary to New Harvest Church (near St. Joseph, Missouri) for several years before returning as a pianist to her home church (Mount Zion Baptist Church, Edgerton, Missouri). She is currently affiliated with another congregation in the greater Kansas City area. She is a current or former member of the Missouri Farm Bureau, the

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizatio ...

Club (past president), the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

, the Chamber of Commerce, the Missouri Bar Association, the Clay County Bar Association, the Missouri Baptist Theological Seminary Board of Regents and the William Woods University Board of Trustees. Ridgeway resides in rural

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Flor ...

, near

Smithville, Missouri Smithville is a city in Clay and Platte counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, along the Little Platte River. The population was 10,406 at the 2020 United States Census. Geography Smithville is ...

. She operated her own general-practice law firm in Smithville for several years before entering public service. She married Dr. Richard Ridgeway in 1984. In 2020, they celebrated their 36th anniversary. In 2021, she returned to private life.

Political career

Ridgeway was first elected to the

in 1992, and served there until 2002. While in the House, she served on the House Judiciary Committee and was Ranking Member of that committee from 1995-2002. While serving in the Missouri House in 1994, Ridgeway was selected as a delegate to the American Council Of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL). She was sent to represent Missouri and the U.S. to Russia and the Ukraine. The purpose of the delegation was to open further dialogue between political leaders in the U.S. and countries formerly a part of the recently dismantled Soviet Union. She was elected to the

Missouri State 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 yea ...

in 2004 and 2008. She was elected Majority Caucus Chair by fellow senators. She served as the Chair of the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules; was the Vice Chair of the following committees: Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics; Small Business and Insurance; and, served on the following committees: Appropriations, Commerce, Energy and the Environment and the Joint Committee on Capital Improvements. In 2012, Ridgeway was elected to a four-year term as the Eastern District Commissioner of Clay County, Missouri with 63.49% of the vote. In 2016, Ridgeway was re-elected to a four-year term as the Eastern District Commissioner of Clay County, Missouri with 61.7% of the vote. In 2020, Ridgeway announced she would not run for re-election as Commissioner and entered into what she happily referred to as “self-imposed term limits”. She returned to private life in 2021.

References

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

External links

Archived webpage (2012) at Missouri State Senate
(includes photo).
''Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2011-2012''
'♙, ''Jefferson City, Missouri:Secretary of State.
Official webpage of Clay County, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgeway, Luann Living people People from Moberly, Missouri People from Smithville, Missouri William Woods University alumni Westminster College (Missouri) alumni University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni American University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Republican Party Missouri state senators Women state legislators in Missouri County commissioners in Missouri 21st-century American women 1956 births