She is a Baptist Home Missionary to New Harvest Church (St. Joseph, Missouri), serving as keyboardist, being sent by Mt. Zion Baptist Church (Edgerton, Missouri) where she also serves as a pianist. She is a member of: the Missouri Farm Bureau, the Kiwanis Club (past president), the Rotary Club, the chamber of commerce, the Missouri County Bar Association, the Clay County Bar Association, the Missouri Baptist Theological Seminary Board of Regents, and the William Woods University Board of Trustees.
She was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1992, and served in that body through 2002. She was elected to the Missouri State Senate in 2004. In 2007, she was elected Majority Caucus Chair by fellow senators. She is the Chair of the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules. She is currently the Vice Chair of the following committees: Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics; Small Business and Insurance; and also serves on the following committees: Appropriations; Commerce, Energy and the Environment and the Joint Committee on Capital Improvements
She resides in rural Clay County, just north of Smithville, Missouri.
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