Kay Waldo Barnes (born March 30, 1938) is a former American politician and two-term Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, and the first woman to be elected to the office.
She was the Democratic nominee for Missouri's 6th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in the 2008 election against Republican incumbent Sam Graves.
[1] She earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from the University of Kansas, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, a master's in secondary education, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.
On August 5, 2008, Barnes won against Ali Allon Sherkat in the Democratic primary with 84.5% of the vote.
[4] Although the race was initially thought to be competitive, Barnes was soundly defeated, taking only 37 percent of the vote.