In the race for Missouri House District 140 Republican incumbent Jamie Gragg faces a primary challenge from former Springfield City Council member and candidate for the Missouri Senate Angela Romine.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Julia Curran, who previously ran for the 140th in 2024.
Before taking questions, the candidates took turns introducing themselves. Here are transcriptions from those introductions (lightly edited for readability).
Rep. Jamie Gragg:
"Hello (I'm) Jamie Gregg, and I am the current Rep. for the 140th. And, you know, I've been here for a long time, almost my whole life, and my family's been here for ten generations, and that doesn't make me the best candidate by any means. But what that means is, my family's been around here a long time. And what we are, we're here. This is family. This is home. This has been where we've been for a long time. And when you've been here a long time, you've got the relationships built. You've got the heart. You've, got the personalities, you've got the people. When you know what the community is about, when you know what the heritage is about, when you know what the history is. We're not Springfield, we're not Branson, we're not Douglas County, we're not Lawrence County, we're Christian County. It's totally different. We have our own uniqueness, and we need to make sure that we keep that. We are represented by somebody who knows what this county is all about. We need somebody that's going to know the people here and connects with the people. And so I've been here for, for a long time now. I've been here, living here for a long time. Folks were talking about; we need somebody who's been here longer than a year, someone who's lived here for a long time, someone who's got those connections, someone who's been here and who knows those people and who's actually a tax paying individual. So that's why I'm the best representative for this district."
His competition in the Republican primary Angela Romine:
"All I do is have a heart of service. I've served my country for three years. I wish it could have been more. I grew up in the military. My dad was in, so we had to sacrifice a lot. Growing up we didn't have roots anywhere. And when my husband was getting out of the military because he served also, he asked me where would I like to stay and put down some roots? And I said, Missouri. And I chose specifically this area because it has military roots as far as being there for the community. When soldiers would leave the spouses behind, (they) would stand with each other and help each other out. That is the community that I love, that I see here, that I've seen in Springfield and here. Sometimes, though, when we're so close to a problem, we can't see the solution. I understand the proper role of government. We need to get back to that. It's conservative. It is Christian based history. But we have lost our way as far as what is the proper role of government. We have to learn how to be self-sufficient. And one of the reasons why we even have schools is to teach children how to have that self-introspection and be held responsible for their own actions. So, I want to serve Christian County with my whole heart. I've been involved. I lead a Turning Point Faith chapter at my church. I actually teach civics at my church. I've served on the Greene County Republican Women's Club. I've been involved in the Republican Party. I have done work, and I want to continue to work for you guys. So, that's why people should vote for me. Thank you."
Democratic candidate Julia Curran:
"I'm Julia Curran, I'm running for the 140. My husband and I have lived here in Christian County for over 20 years. All of our children went through public schools here. I've been a nurse for 35 years, taking care of my good neighbors here in Christian County for a long time. And I see what happens to people when they don't have health care. I see what happens to people when their government lets them down. You know, we have so many young people right now who just can't seem to get ahead. We've got a lot of people working really hard. And when I'm knocking doors and talking to people, they're asking like, how can we reduce costs? How can we improve public schools and make them stronger? How can we add fairness back to the system? We should be able to do these things. These are the things that are troubling to people. People who are working so hard and they're one accident away from disaster, one paycheck away from financial disaster. And we need to change that. And people are looking for that change. I have courage. I have always stood up to very strong people and talked to them in a civil way and (been) able to make changes. And that's what I hope to do in Jefferson City. this. I have had meetings in Billings, Clever and Nixa. I've had voters say, I need help and I've taken care of them. That is who I am. I am here to serve the people."
Gragg and Romine will be on the Republican ballot, and Curran on the Democratic ballot for the 140th District in our primary election Tuesday, August 4.