Knocking on more than 18,000 doors, placing nearly 400 yard signs and organizing a volunteer team of 25 people during campaign season 2012, Elijah Haahr won his bid for the 134th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives, making him one of the 10 youngest members of the House and the fourth-youngest freshman Republican in the 2013 class.
“From the record-setting heat in July to wearing coats leading up to election day, I invested more in the campaign than on any one venture leading up to it,” Haahr says of his victory at the polls in November.
Now a member of the Economic Development and Transportation Appropriations Committee, Haahr says the initial decision to run wasn’t an easy one.
It was the result of a challenge from the president of the Missouri Bar Association.
“There were only 17 attorneys in the House at the time,” says Haahr, an attorney with Aaron Sachs & Associates PC.
“The main reason is that the schedule of a House member – working in Jefferson City for six months – is not conducive to holding a job, particulary a legal job.
“On top of that, most lawyers that are elected are partners in their firm and can set their own schedule. Despite not being a partner and being only 29, I made the decision to run.”
Haahr’s pension for civil service extends beyond Missouri’s capital city.
As 2011 president of the Springfield Jaycces – the United States Junior Chamber – Haahr transformed the group facing a membership crisis into the fourth-fastest growing chapter in the state.
Bringing the same enthusiasm and will to succeed into the court room, Haahr was named as a Young Lawyer You Should Know by the Missouri Bar Association during his first year of practicing.
He counts winning a case before the Southern District Court of Appeals as one of his most significant professional accomplishments.
At the University of Missouri School of Law, Haahr was editor-in-chief of the Missouri Environmental Law & Policy Review and a mock trial team member in labor, international and team counseling law.
Outside of the courtroom, Haahr is a member of the Sunshine Rotary Club, serves on the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce government relations committee and holds membership in the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Assocation and Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.
Haahr and his wife Amanda, also volunteer in the Springfield Adopt a Street program.
Seeking to help his community through more than just a monetary donation, Haahr and a friend collected two trailers full of food and more than $3,000 in just three days for victims of the May 22, 2011, Joplin tornado.
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