Fred Wellman’s race against Ann Wagner is on—but he needs money to win
Copyright 2026 SLM Media Group. All rights reserved.
Military veteran Fred Wellman eked out a victory in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, teeing him up for a tough race against 13-year-incumbent Congresswoman Ann Wagner.
Wellman’s primary battle with Joan VonDras came down to just 2,500 votes. In a brief interview Wednesday, Wellman acknowledged he’d had a late night. Asked how many hours of sleep he’d gotten, he said, “I took a little Tylenol PM and knocked my ass out about 12:30, so I got about five.” He added that he doesn’t control when his big poodle Ash wakes him up.
Subscribe to the St. Louis Daily newsletter for a smart, succinct guide to local news from award-winning journalists Sarah Fenske and Ryan Krull.
We will never send spam or annoying emails. Unsubscribe anytime. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
But despite that lack of sleep, Wellman sounded energetic. He said the race that will play out over the next thre…