St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale launches reelection bid for 2026
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- St. Joseph's incumbent mayor has officially announced he will seek four more years in office come next year.
St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale confirmed to News-Press NOW on Tuesday that he plans to seek a second term in office, aiming to build off four years that saw notable job growth and capital investments in manufacturing and workforce development, along with widespread upgrades to civic facilities.
"I thought about it and talked it over with my family. My health is good, and I am very committed to St. Joe," Josendale said. "I look forward to trying to be the mayor again for four more years."
A native of St. Joseph and longtime executive at Wire Rope Corporation of America, Josendale was first elected by voters in April of 2022.
During his four years in office, the city saw more than $300 million in large capital investments for a range of sectors, helping create and retain upwards of 500 jobs, including new industries like Nortian Foodtech or large expansions by local employers like Daily's Premium Meats, Triumph Foods and Hillyard, Inc.
Additional achievements include revitalizing St. Joseph's park system and key local facilities like Rosecrans Memorial Airport and Civic Arena, along with the development of new facilities like an animal shelter, InspireU Children's Discovery Museum and hotel/convention center on Frederick Avenue.
"I think we're moving a lot of things the right way and I look forward to being able to do it again," he said. “St. Joe's all about the people. From day one, I've enjoyed getting to meet a lot of people and there are a lot more that I'd like to continue to meet."
He said some of the top priorities moving forward will be continued efforts to improve housing and workforce development, with the ultimate goal of boosting and retaining highly-skilled workers to address St. Joseph's declining population.
A new apartment complex planned for the North Shoppes area, along with MoWest's new Houlne Center for Convergent Technology and a UMKC School of Medicine campus in St. Joseph represent major investments in that area, a byproduct of strong community partnerships with the county and top local employers.
"When you talk about new jobs, where do they come from? We have to grow some of those internally. What can we do to keep them to stay? Working on that and making that part of our objective as we go forward I think is extremely important," he said. “Having us all on the same page."
Improving community appearances, code enforcement and strengthening communication with residents mark other key areas of focus. The city has made strides by identifying top areas of need through community surveys and holding new bi-monthly work sessions with department leaders to plan and gauge progress on those improvement efforts.
The 2026 municipal election will feature races for mayor and all eight City Council seats. Four at-large councilmembers will be elected to serve four-year terms while four district councilmembers will be elected to an initial two-year term, with a subsequent district election to occur in 2028.
Tuesday marked the official start of next year's municipal election process with petitions becoming available for those interested in running for mayor, city council and judge. All petitions must be filed with the city clerk between Tuesday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday, Oct. 28.
St. Joseph's Primary Election will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 3, followed by the General Election on Tuesday, April 7.
The 2022 mayoral race saw four candidates vie during the primaries, with Josendale later defeating opponent Gary Wilkinson with a 53% approval among voters.
News-Press NOW will continue to update this story.
