6th District Congressman Chris Stigall: First Northwest Graduate to Be Elected to Congress

Newly elected 6th District Republican Congressman Chris Stigall is reported in his biography as graduating from Northwest in 1999. This photo from the 1998 Tower shows him playing June Cleaver in a TKE 1997 homecoming variety-show skit titled “Leave It to Bobby.” He and Ryan Stadlman, who played Ward, received best actor awards.

His comedy chops include a stint as an intern for David Letterman.

Per Google, he is the first Northwest graduate to become a congressman. Iowa congressman Steve King attended Northwest from 1967 to 1970 but did not graduate. Northwest’s first chair of the Regents, Charles J. Colden, who was active in bringing the school to Maryville, was a congressman from California from 1933 to 1939. Stigall was born in Richmond.

Stigall was in this year’s homecoming parade on Saturday, Oct 31 (and was interviewed by KXCV where he did work on his broadcast degree from Northwest). Stigall said he met his wife, Christine, at Northwest, and they married shortly after graduation.

I don’t think anybody with Maryville connections ever previously represented the home district in Congress.

Chris Stigall campaign biography

Chris Stigall was born in Richmond, Missouri (Ray County). He spent countless weekends as a kid with his grandparents in Richmond. The seeds of his Christian faith were planted from his earliest days in the pews of the Richmond United Methodist Church. Much of his early lessons of fishing, hunting, and even driving happened on the acreage of his great grandfather’s farmland just outside of Henrietta, Missouri. Chris’ great grandfather, grandfather, and father were all products of agriculture as a way of life.

Chris’ family eventually moved to Clay County where he attended school in the North Kansas City School District. Upon graduation from Oak Park High School, he attended Northwest Missouri State University to obtain his degree in broadcasting. There he covered news for much of the listening area of KXCV/KRNW, including election night returns from the Buchanan County Courthouse. Chris met his wife Christine – a middle school public education major who also attended Northwest and they married shortly after graduation.

Christine taught middle school in the Park Hill School District, while Chris found his voice in conservative talk radio in the early 2000s. He took a brief detour professionally serving in Congressman Sam Graves’ office as a Field Representative and Deputy Communications Director for the office. The time he spent traveling the district and learning some of the functions of the congressional office would serve him well as he returned to talk radio on KCMO in Kansas City in 2006 where he grew to become one of the nation’s leading conservative voices in national syndication. He has been awarded the Phyllis Schlafly Truth in Journalism Award, Clay County Republican Central Committee’s Man of the Year, and was inducted in the Oak Park High School Alumni Hall of Fame. Chris has been recognized by industry peers for years as one of the “100 Most Influential Voices” in the nation on talk radio. He was also honored to serve as a board member of the Liberty USO.

Screen Grab from Northwest homecoming Oct 31, 2006 (from WNWT)

Photo of Chris during Oct 31 homecoming

Chris Interview with Bill Oliver at KXCV