4th Annual SEMO Democrat Rally will take place Saturday

Dr. John Hagler

The event will kick off with a social hour from 6-7 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Tickets to the event are $20 per person.

The keynote speaker is Hagler. He was appointed Director of Agriculture for the state by Gov. Jay Nixon on January 9 of this year. He was confirmed by the senate on January 29.

Hagler, a lifelong horseman, continues to operate a small farm near St. James where he trains and sells Missouri Fox Trotters, the Missouri state horse. Over the past three years, Hagler has served as Nixon's principal advisor and liaison on agriculture issues and was instrumental in helping draft agricultural and environmental policies.

Hagler, 41, was raised on a horse farm in Dent County and has maintained his own operation, Cheyenne Farms, since 1997. Prior to becoming an advisor to Nixon, Hagler served as the senior corporate development officer for the University of Missouri-Rolla (now the Missouri University of Science and Technology).

From 2001 to 2003, Hagler was executive director of governmental and external affairs at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, Calif. As a key advisor he managed international outreach and a partnership program between the university and international, federal, state and local entities. After leaving Cal Poly, Hagler served several years on the staff of the Missouri State House of Representatives. He also served as chief of staff to the Speaker of the House in 2000-2001.

Hagler holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a doctorate from Washington University.

Also speaking will be Montee. She is a St. Joseph native and Missouri's first statewide official elected from Buchanan County in over 125 years. She is also the first State Auditor to be both a CPA and attorney.

Following college in Springfield, Susan worked as a CPA; co-founded two successful businesses; earned her law degree; and was a stay-at-home mom. She was elected to the St. Joseph City Council in 1998. In 2000, Montee was elected Buchanan County auditor concurrent with completing her city council services. In 2002, she was re-elected county auditor.

Montee, the daughter of Arlene Humphrey and U.S. Marine Galen Humphrey, Missing-in-Action in Vietnam since 1966, has three children, Amanda, Andy, and Austin.

Carnahan began serving as Secretary of State in 2005. Carnahan grew up in Rolla, and is a member of the Baptist Church. After graduating from Rolla High School, her studies continued at William Jewell College in Liberty and the University of Southampton in England. She earned a bachelor's degree in Economics, graduating magna cum laude. Carnahan went on to earn a juris doctor degree from the University of Virginia Law School, where she served as executive editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law. Carnahan then returned to Missouri to practice business law with the St. Louis law firm of Thompson & Mitchell.

Carnahan's family has a lengthy political history. Her father, Mel Carnahan, served as Missouri's State Treasurer, Lt. Governor and Governor, and her mother, Jean Carnahan, was the first woman to serve Missouri in the U.S. Senate. Her grandfather, A.S.J. Carnahan, a congressman from south-central Missouri for fourteen years, was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone in west Africa.

The event is sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Democratic Caucus. All proceeds from the event go to the Democrat Rural Caucus.