John Diehl, Jr.
John J. Diehl, Jr. (b. August 28, 1965) is a former Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives, representing District 89 from 2008 to May 14, 2015. He resigned after he admitted to exchanging text messages with an intern that were of a sexual nature.[1] Diehl served as Speaker of the House from the beginning of the 2015 legislative session to his resignation on May 14, 2015.
In the 2013 session, Diehl served as House Majority Floor Leader.
Biography
Diehl earned his B.A. in political science from the University of Missouri Columbia and his J.D. from Saint Louis University.[2]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Diehl served on the following committees:
| Missouri committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Joint Committee on Tax Policy |
As Speaker, Diehl served on all House committees ex officio.
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Diehl served on the following committees:
| Missouri committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Ethics, Chair |
| • Joint Committee on Tax Policy |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Diehl served on the following committees:
| Missouri committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Economic Development |
| • Rules, Chair |
| • Urban Issues |
| • Joint Committee on Tax Policy |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Diehl served on the following committees:
| Missouri committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Election, Vice chair |
| • Judiciary |
| • Fiscal Review |
| • Local Government |
| • Job Creation and Economic Development |
Issues
2011 redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Missouri
In late March 2011, the House Redistricting Committee took public comment on a proposed map they unveiled. The map showed that the committee planned to redraw the boundaries of Missouri’s congressional districts, eliminating one of them.
Virtually all criticism arose from the idea that the balance of political power in individual districts was shifting from common areas of established political identity.
“You’ve got congressional districts now having to go from 621,000 (citizens) when we drew them last time to 750,000,” said Rep. Diehl. “And so the challenge to this committee is pretty significant in terms of drawing something in which everyone fits.”
Due to sluggish population growth during the last decade, Missouri faced eliminating one of its congressional seats and redrawing the boundaries of the remaining eight to balance the populations of each district.
One of the chief complaints raised about the first proposed map was the lack of a unified district representing central Missouri.
“I’m concerned that the current map ultimately represents a split of mid-Missouri’s interest and a delegation of those central Missouri interests into the St. Louis metropolitan area,” said Marc Ellinger, Cole County presiding commissioner.[3]
The committee signed off on Diehl's proposed map on April 6, 2011. The map did away with the district then represented by U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan while giving much new territory to U.S. Rep. Jacob Luetkemeyer. The map made almost all territory north of the Missouri River one giant new district to be represented by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves.[4]
Republican members of the Missouri congressional delegation assembled in April 2011 to throw their weight behind changes to the two existing congressional redistricting maps.
The chairmen of the state legislature’s redistricting committees, Diehl, Sen. Scott Rupp, House Speaker Steven Tilley, House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Tim Jones, Senate President Pro Tem Robert Mayer, and Majority Floor Leader Sen. Tom Dempsey. Senators Jason Crowell and Brad Lager were seen entering party headquarters, but did not stay long.
Congress members Jo Ann Emerson, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Todd Akin, Vicky Hartzler and Sam Graves were said to have joined the conversation in person or via phone link.
The redistricting stalemate between the Missouri House and Senate spurred debate and Crowell's warning of a filibuster against any attempt to pass the House version of the redistricting map.
The controversy concentrated on the way the two maps divided St. Charles and Jefferson Counties. The House map split St. Charles County in two and Jefferson County three ways. The Senate map featured a compact St. Charles County, and only two divisions in Jefferson County.[5]
Elections
2014
Elections for the Missouri House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 25, 2014. Al Gerber was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent John Diehl was unopposed in the Republican primary. Diehl faced Gerber in the general election.[6][7] Incumbent Diehl defeated Gerber in the general election, and was re-elected to another term.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  John Diehl Incumbent |
66.3% | 10,081 | |
| Democratic | Al Gerber | 33.7% | 5,114 | |
| Total Votes | 15,195 | |||
2012
Diehl won re-election in the 2012 election for Missouri House of Representatives, District 89. Diehl ran unopposed in the August 7 Republican primary and ran unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[9][10]
2010
On November 2, 2010, Diehl won election to the Missouri House of Representatives.
2008
On November 4, 2008, John Diehl, Jr. ran for District 87 of the Missouri House of Representatives, beating Mark Zoole.[11]
John Diehl, Jr. raised $46,740 for his campaign.[12]
| Missouri House of Representatives, District 87 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| John Diehl, Jr. (R) | 12,572 | 60.1% | ||
| Mark Zoole (D) | 8,352 | 39.9% | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Missouri scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2015
In 2015, the Missouri General Assembly was in session from January 7 through May 15.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to "liberty issues that deal with the size, scope, and proper role of government."
- Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes for or against UM's position.
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2014, the Missouri General Assembly was in session from January 8 through May 19.
|
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the Missouri General Assembly was in session from January 9 through May 30.
|
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Diehl and his wife have three children.
Diehl has been a member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Driving While Intoxicated, Missouri State Bar Association, Town and Country Architectural Review Board, and the Town and Country/Frontenac Chamber of Commerce.[2]
Noteworthy events
Relationship with an intern
On May 14, 2015, House Speaker Diehl resigned from the Missouri House of Representatives.[13] Diehl announced his resignation one day after the Kansas City Star reported that he exchanged text messages with an intern that were of a sexual nature.[14] The article included screenshots of the text messages.[14] The text messages ranged from normal everyday texts about meetings and speeches to texts that took on a more sexual tone.[14] Hours after the article was released, Diehl admitted to the relationship with the college freshman, but declared that he would not be resigning.[15] By Thursday afternoon, Diehl changed his mind and decided to resign. He made the following statement when he resigned.[16] He said, "I have acknowledged making a serious error in judgment by sending the text messages. It was wrong and I am truly sorry. Too often, we hear leaders say they’re sorry but are unwilling to accept the consequences. … I am willing to face the consequences."[16] On the last day of the legislative session, Republicans picked Todd Richardson (R) as the new House Speaker.[16]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "John + Diehl + Missouri + House"
See also
- Missouri House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Joint Committees
- Missouri state legislative districts
- Missouri General Assembly
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2010, 2008
- Profile by Vote-USA
Footnotes
- ↑ kmov.com, "Missouri a House Speaker Resigns after intern text messages," accessed May 14, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Project Vote Smart, "Biography of Rep. Diehl," accessed May 14, 2015
- ↑ "Committee hears criticism on proposed congressional map," Missouri News Horizon, April 1, 2011
- ↑ "House committee signs off on redistricting map," Missouri News Horizon, April 6, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ "Congressional Delegation Wades in to Redistricting Fight," Missouri News Horizon," April 19, 2011
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "All Results - State of Missouri - Primary Election - August 5, 2014," accessed August 26, 2014
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Certified Candidate List - Primary Election," accessed July 24, 2014
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "All Results-State of Missouri-General-November 4, 2014: Unofficial Results," November 8, 2014
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Nov 6, 2012 General Election - All Results," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Aug 7, 2012 Primary - All Results," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Official Election Returns - State of Missouri General Election - 2008 General Election," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money's report on Diehl's 2008 campaign contributions
- ↑ Washington Post, "The speaker of the Missouri House just resigned after sexting with an intern. Here’s what you need to know.," accessed May 15, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Kansas City Star, "Missouri House Speaker John Diehl admits sexually charged relationship with intern," accessed May 15, 2015
- ↑ Yahoo.com, "Missouri House speaker resigning after intern text messages," accessed May 15, 2015
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Kansas City Star, " Missouri House Speaker John Diehl resigns over intern texts; Todd Richardson replaces him," accessed May 15, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Missouri House of Representatives District 89 2013–May 14, 2015 |
Succeeded by Dean Plocher (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Missouri House of Representatives District 87 2009–2013 |
Succeeded by Stacey Newman (D) |
