Joseph Edwin Maxwell (born March 17, 1957) is an American attorney who served as the 45th

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the state of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

who also served in 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 ...

and the

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 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

. To date, he is the last member of the Democratic Party to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Missouri.

Personal history

Joseph Edwin Maxwell was born in

Kirksville, Missouri Kirksville is the county seat of and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri, United States. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirk ...

and grew up on a farm near Rush Hill in rural

Audrain County, Missouri Audrain County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,962. Its county seat is Mexico. The county was organized December 13, 1836, and named for Colonel James Hunter ...

. He is a graduate of Community R-VI High School in Laddonia and received his higher education at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. Maxwell earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Education from Mizzou in 1986, and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The s ...

in 1990. Prior to receiving his higher education, Maxwell worked as a rural mail carrier for the U.S Postal Service and also operated a small business with his twin brother. Joe Maxwell is a military veteran who retired in 1995 with the rank of First Sergeant after twenty years in the Missouri National Guard. Maxwell and wife Sarah are the parents of three daughters. He later became an attorney in private practice in

Mexico, Missouri Mexico, formerly known as New Mexico, is a city in and the county seat of Audrain County, Missouri, United States. It is home to the Missouri Military Academy and annually hosts the Miss Missouri Pageant. The city's population was 11,469 at the ...

with the firm of Hagan, Hamlett and Maxwell and Council Member of Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future.

Political history

Joe Maxwell served two terms in the

, being elected in 1990 and again in 1992. In 1994 Maxwell ran for and won election to the

representing the 18th District. He easily defeated Republican challenger James Lemon in 1998 to win reelection. Joe Maxwell was elected to statewide office in 2000, defeating Republican Wendell Bailey in the race for Missouri Lieutenant Governor. After his election, he resigned from his senate seat to take office early. He chose not to run for the office again in 2004, citing his wife's health problems. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Maxwell, a Democrat, endorsed Republican

Eric Greitens Eric Robert Greitens (born April 10, 1974) is an American businessman, author, former politician and former Navy SEAL, who served as the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until June 2018, when he resigned that month amid allegations o ...

for Governor. Maxwell had been dissatisfied with Democratic nominee

Chris Koster Christopher Andrew Koster (born August 31, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Missouri Attorney General, Attorney General of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. Before that, Koster was elected three times as prosecuting att ...

's stances on Agriculture, almost deciding to challenge him for the nomination.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Joe 1957 births Lieutenant governors of Missouri Living people Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri lawyers Democratic Party Missouri state senators People from Kirksville, Missouri People from Audrain County, Missouri University of Missouri alumni People from Mexico, Missouri 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly