Kay Waldo Barnes (born March 30, 1938) is a former American politician and two-term

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

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 ...

, and the first woman to be elected to the office. She was the Democratic nominee for of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in the 2008 election against Republican incumbent

Sam Graves Samuel Bruce Graves Jr. (born November 7, 1963) is an American politician best known for serving in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives for , with him being the dean of Missouri's congressional districts, Mi ...

Biography

Born Beverly Kay Cronkite in St. Joseph, Missouri, she was the daughter of Frederick Pierce "Fritz" Cronkite Jr. (1911-1962) and Helen F. orfordCronkite St. John (1912-2016). Her father was the younger brother of Walter L. Cronkite, making her a

niece In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

of famous

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in secondary education from the University of Kansas, where she was a member of

Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than ...

sorority, a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in secondary education, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. She was president of ''Kay Waldo, Inc.'', a human resources development firm, until her retirement.

Career

In 1974, she was one of the first two women in the Jackson County Legislature. She was elected to the Kansas City council in 1979. Barnes was the first female mayor of Kansas City. Mayor Barnes has received the most credit for her work in improving

Downtown Kansas City Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area which contains 3.8% of the area's employment. It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; ...

and working for beginning the revitalization of the urban core. She is also credited with the

Sprint Center Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design * Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 * Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadge ...

arena in Kansas City that opened on October 10, 2007. She was first elected mayor on her birthday in 1999, and re-elected for a second term in 2003. She was succeeded as mayor of Kansas City on May 1, 2007, when

Mark Funkhouser Mark Funkhouser (born October 4, 1949) is an American academic, author, and former politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, serving one four-year term from May 1, 2007, until May 2, 2011. Prior to serving as the city's ...

took office. At Missouri Democratic functions, beginning in April, 2007, Mayor Barnes made it clear that she was seriously considering a run for Congress in 2008, and on May 14, 2007, she officially announced her candidacy.for Missouri's 6th congressional district, held by four-term Republican

. She had spent most of her life in the district; she lives in the 6th's portion of Kansas City, and grew up in St. Joseph, the largest city entirely in the 6th. On August 5, 2008, Barnes won against Ali Allon Sherkat in the Democratic primary with 84.5% of the vote. Although the race was initially thought to be competitive, Barnes was soundly defeated, taking only 37 percent of the vote. She even lost the district's share of Kansas City. She is Senior Director for University Engagement at

Park University Park University is a private university in Parkville, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1875. In the fall of 2023, Park had an enrollment of 6,389 students. History The school which was originally called Park College was founded in ...

. Barnes is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Personal life

On February 6, 1960 in St. Joseph, she married Douglas Byers Waldo Jr. (1937-2021), kin of the large North American Waldo family, descendant of

John Alden John Alden ( – September 12, 1687) was an English politician, settler, and cooper, best known for being a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth ...

, and distant cousin of United States Presidents

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

and

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

. They had two children: Frederick Douglas "Fritz" Waldo and Kelly Kay Waldo. They would divorce some time before 1973, when Douglas re-married. She married secondly Frank Merritt Barnes (1925-2000) on December 6, 1988 in Kansas City. He died after 11 years of marriage. She married for a third time to Thomas Van Dyke (b. 1938) on May 30, 2015 in Kansas City. She is a cousin of United States Presidents

George H.W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

through the Pierce family, her great-grandmother being a Pierce at birth.

References

External links

*
Missouri District 6 campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Kay 1938 births Living people Politicians from St. Joseph, Missouri Businesspeople from Missouri Mayors of Kansas City, Missouri Missouri city council members Missouri Democrats University of Kansas alumni Women mayors of places in Missouri 20th-century mayors of places in Missouri 21st-century mayors of places in Missouri Women city councillors in Missouri 20th-century Missouri politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century Missouri politicians 21st-century American women politicians Candidates in the 2008 United States elections 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen Park University faculty

Biography

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links