First, he was a Christian rock artist, then he became a politician in the Missouri Capitol. For outgoing Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, he looks back on his time in Jefferson City fondly.
“We’ve done a lot of real big Republican things,” he told Missourinet. “The heartbeat bill and gun bills and bills dealing with women’s sports and other things. All those things we did without a previous question, which, you know, I was a part of the negotiations for all those things. And one getting the things done, I think were big deals, but doing it in a way that didn’t blow the place to smithereens.”
Term limits will force him out of office in January.
“I’ll look back and be excited about being a part of I-70 getting funded and watching that project even begin now,” Rowden said. “All the work we’ve done in education reform, I think, is probably my proudest kind of accomplishment and specifically getting a charter school in Boone County this year before I left.”
Bipartisanship, compromise, and the ability to cooperate between Democrats and Republicans is what the outgoing lawmaker said he prided himself on.
“This side of the building, the Senate in general, but certainly the top leadership posts, of which I’ve occupied for six years and both of them, you’ve got to have somebody who’s being honest and being willing to call balls and strikes and not being biased toward a certain outcome,” he said.
Rowden has served in the legislature for 12 years, including as Majority Leader and President Pro Tem. Six of his eight years in the Senate were in leadership positions as Majority Leader and President Pro Tem. The old American proverb “you win some, you lose some” is what he said he looked to for insight as his tenure comes to a close.
“If you’re resigned to that fact and you’re just willing to put your head down and work, you can, even on the days kind of to what you were alluding to, the days where you lose, or the days where you feel like you’re not being successful, there’s always a way to kind of flip that and make it be a positive if you’re willing to do it,” Rowden said.
Rowden leaves a message for any aspiring lawmakers hoping to be in leadership one day – prioritize the needs of others. He said his servant leadership philosophy comes from his time as a Christian recording artist and worship leader before he entered politics in 2012.
“You just have to know, it’s not about me, it’s about everybody else, right? So, there has to be, if you’re going to do these jobs well, there has to be a servant leadership element of it that I think is kind of at the forefront to accomplish things and so, you know, for me it was all about relationships,” he explained.
As a Christian singer/songwriter, Rowden toured the country selling thousands of records and garnering two top 20 national radio hits.
What will Rowden do next? He will spend his days lobbying. Rowden tells Missourinet that he wants to continue to build upon the relationships he had while serving as a lawmaker.
“I do love public policy,” said Rowden. I don’t love the political side as much as I used to, but I do love public policy. I think there’s, you know, room for folks who want to find ways to get to solutions and not just make noise.”
Rowden opted for this move after reaching his term limit in the Missouri Senate and choosing not to run for higher political office.
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