The Informed Voter Coalition is made up of these nonprofit organizations: Be Civil, Be Heard ; Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics & Citizenship; Junior League of Springfield; KSMU Ozarks Public Radio; Leadership Springfield; League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri; Missouri State University’s Office of Public Affairs; NAACP Springfield; Rosie; Show Me Christian County; Springfield Business Journal; Springfield-Greene County Library District; and the Springfield News-Leader.
You can hear the interviews recorded at KSMU by clicking on the "listen" button above or watch videos of the interviews recorded by Nathan Papes and Greta Cross of the Springfield News-Leader.
Candidates were interviewed individually and asked the same questions. They had one minute to introduce themselves and two minutes to respond to each question. Questions were submitted by Informed Voter Coalition partner organizations and were not provided to the candidates in advance. The order of the candidate interviews was determined by a random drawing.
Missouri House District 130
I'm Maggie Castrey with the League of Women Voters, one of the nonpartisan organizations that make up the Informed Voter Coalition. Today, we are interviewing candidates for Missouri House District 130. They are Leslie Jones and Bishop Davidson.
Leslie Jones
Our first candidate is Leslie Jones. Thank you very much for joining us. Let's begin by having you introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this office.
"Thank you, Maggie. My name is Leslie Jones. I'm a born and raised Springfieldian. I've lived here my whole life, and I'm a music therapist. I teach part time at Drury University, and I also own my own business, Musical Bridges Music Therapy, which has been in business here in Springfield since 2011. In addition, I'm also a mom, and those three things are kind of the thing, you know, what pushed me towards running because as I see, you know, how Missouri has progressed over the past 20 years, I feel that our working families, our children, our public safety, I think these are all areas that can be improved. And I think that my past experience with educating and working with children and, you know, people of all ages through the lifespan, I think that I have a lot of expertise and knowledge that I can bring to Jefferson City to better the lives of Missourians."
Amendment 7 will appear on the November ballot. If passed, it will establish that only citizens who are Missouri residents can vote. Currently, you must be a registered Missouri resident to vote in our municipal, state, and federal elections. This amendment will also prohibit ranked choice voting in the state of Missouri. Do you support this amendment? Why or why not?
"I do not support this amendment. I think that it's redundant because noncitizens, for Missouri, cannot vote already. I think that it's pretty much political theater and that it's not necessary. And I also do support ranked choice voting as well. So I don't really agree with Amendment 7, no."
What are your budget priorities for the coming year? What would you like to see funded for your district?
"I honestly would like to see more funding for public schools. I have several friends who are within the public school districts within my district, and funding has always been a concern. I've heard it from the school, you know, the superintendents, parents, teachers, we need more help. And, you know, Missouri is at the bottom for our funding for our students, and I think that it's time that we put some more money into that to fix those areas. And I'm also concerned with our public safety. I think that we need to put more money into helping our communities that need the help. I think we need to support our firefighters, our policemen, our EMTs, public servants, all these things. And so those are some areas that I would like to see more focus on in the budget."
Due in part to budget restraints, the percentage of school districts that have enacted four-day school weeks has exploded from 1 in 2010 to 160 today, representing more than 30% of all Missouri public schools. Do you see a role for the General Assembly in addressing this dynamic? Why or why not?
"I honestly think that it's the (Missouri) General Assembly's fault that we got to this point, because they haven't been funding our education. And so that's what's led to not having teachers that want to go into rural districts. And, you know, they're not wanting to work for minimum of $25,000 a year. You know, we need to put more focus in supporting teachers so that people will want to teach. And we haven't done that and so now it's created this problem where, you know, we're trying to retain teachers and get them to go to these areas by whittling down the school days. And I do know, you know, I've talked to people who think that it's not so bad. You know, some parents like having the four days a week. I know that there's also the flip side of it, though. People, you know, like my family, if I all of a sudden had an extra day that I didn't have a place to put my children, that's going to cause issues for our family because we're both working parents And, you know, I think that there's pros and cons to it. But I think that overall we've got to fund our schools and stop creating problems that weren't there before."
Amendment 3 will appear on the November ballot. If passed, it will amend the Missouri Constitution to provide the right for reproductive freedom. Do you support this amendment? Why or why not?
"Absolutely I support this amendment. I'm a mom of two beautiful children, but I've also lost one. I've gone through, you know, my own health care issues through, you know, a lost pregnancy. And I have personal friends who have experienced not being able to access medical care that they need when they have experienced miscarriages, right here in Springfield at Mercy Hospital, because of this law. You know, I understand how there's people's concern about, you know, abortion and, you know, ending life. But the reality is I think we're creating more problems and more risk to losing life of mothers, you know, of wives. You know, we've got to realize that this isn't just a black and white issue. There's a whole scope that abortion care covers. It covers miscarriages. It covers ectopic pregnancies. It covers, you know, IVF losses when people are trying to get pregnant there. These people can't get care when they need it. And so I 100% support Amendment 3, because I think that politicians really need to get out of our medical decisions. They have no place being there. These are decisions between women, their doctors, and I trust women. And I think that most women feel the same way, and they would like to be trusted with their own body and their own choices."
How can we bridge the political divisions in our state?
"Well, I think one of the best things that we can do is elect people that don't lie to us. We have several lawmakers that continue to, you know, stoke fear, division, you know, and we've got to get away from that. We need to elect people who want to go to Jefferson City to work for us, to listen to everyone. You know, we have a supermajority right now where the Republicans can just put their fingers in their ears and not listen to everyone else because they don't have to, because at the end of the day, what they vote is what goes. You know, there's so few women in Jefferson City that if they don't come into work, the men can still pass laws without us there. And so we've got to have better representation across the board. I think having — you know, electing people that can represent these underrepresented communities in Missouri will make a huge difference. But we also have to have those people step up to run for office, too, which I'm really excited to see that that has improved this year. You know, we went from almost 40% of the seats uncontested to only like 12 now. So that's a huge improvement. And so once more voices get involved, I think that's going to be a huge help. But I also do think, you know, we need, we really have to get politicians that are in it for the people and not themselves."
Bishop Davidson
Joining me now is Bishop Davison. Thank you very much for joining us. Would you please introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this position?
"Sure. Thank you for having me. And they were right. You do have a lovely voice for NPR or radio or whatever it is. So my name is Bishop Davidson. I have the privilege of currently representing the folks of the 130th District here in Missouri, which includes western Springfield, Republic and a little part of the county out there. And I've been elected in that role since 2020. I'm now running for re-election. And if I am elected, I'll be going into my third term. Basically, I think that there's more to be done. I came in with a lot of ambition and was thwarted, to say the least, by the legislative process, which I don't think is altogether a bad thing. I think we stop a lot of bad laws that way, but that just means that I would like a couple more years from the voters here down in Greene County to keep working on the priorities that they sent me forth with back in 2020."
Amendment 7 will appear on the November ballot. If passed, it will establish that only citizens who are Missouri residents can vote. Currently, you must be a registered Missouri resident to vote in our municipal, state and federal elections. This amendment will also prohibit ranked choice voting in the state of Missouri. Do you support this amendment? Why or why not?
"Yes, I do support the amendment. I support Amendment 7 for a variety of reasons. One, I think it's good that we clarify and codify within our Constitution that only citizens are to vote in our elections, which many would say is already the case. But it's good to be, I think, redundant, especially when it comes to something so sacred as who is voting in our election. And then, speaking to ranked choice voting. I think there are many, many reasons to be against it. Ranked choice voting, I think, encourages, first of all, a confused voting populace. It's a, it's a bit more of a tedious process. It encourages sort of game theory in the voting process. And I don't want voters thinking through game theory about how this vote might affect that candidate, or this candidate or that candidate. Rather, to get a representation of the people, I think we want to get the sincere view of the people on who it is that they should they should be sending forth to represent them. And lastly, I'm a strong believer in the majoritarian form of government. I think it encourages compromise. I think it encourages coalition building. It encourages people to come to the table. And ranked choice voting, I think, undermines majoritarian government because it allows for those, those multiple votes to be counted down the line, whether it be your second, third or fourth ballot. There are some other issues, too. I think it encourages parties to create decoy candidates, but I'd be happy to speak more to the issue. If you're out there listening and would like to learn more about my thoughts on it, you can email me at bishop@bishopformo.com. Or you can call me at 417-647-1383."
What are your budget priorities for the coming year? What would you like to see funded in your district?
"Yeah, budget priorities is a great question because it really does express our priorities as a people here in the state of Missouri. I think the primary function of a state government is infrastructure and education. And so I'd like to see those things funded more extensively. And when I think infrastructure, I do think of things like rural broadband, which has become, in many ways like a road, in terms of accessing the economy or giving people the ability to be a part of a broader society. And then, as far as schools and our education systems, I think we could stand to to do more funding there, particularly when it comes to our teachers, as I believe that teachers are are the foundation of a good education. I think we could have a really bad system and a really great teacher, and you get a good education or a perfect system and a bad teacher, and it's a bad education. And so I never see investing more in our teachers as a bad call from a budgetary standpoint. In terms of locally, what I'm interested in, we have been able to secure some funding, and I've gotten to be a part of that for our wastewater project in Republic, Missouri. That's the western part of my legislative district. And I would I would like to seek more funding for that. And the argument there basically is it falls in line with that broad infrastructural, I think, mandate that the state has to look after and to take care of. But it also, it also addresses a real concern in a part of our state that's growing very quickly right now. And, and we want to we don't want to hinder that growth with a bad water system or water infrastructure. If we were to fund a little bit more of that wastewater project, I think the state would see increased revenues because of it."
Due in part to budget restraints, the percentage of school districts that have enacted four-day school weeks has exploded from 1 in 2010 to 160 today, representing more than 30% of all Missouri public schools. Do you see a role for the General Assembly in addressing this dynamic? Why or why not?
"That's a great question. I would say I'm wary about whether or not we should tell a school district how many days it ought to have or not ought to have. What I would say, though, is that there are all sorts of burdening costs that we put on our school districts, whether it's through administration or mandates or whatever the case may be, that I think has probably driven schools into these situations to where they, they have to make hard decisions for their district. And sometimes those hard decisions are whether or not they should be at a four-day or a five-day school week. Broadly speaking, when talking about the financing of our school districts, I think I had said earlier that teachers are the foundation, and I would go further to say that parents are the cornerstone of that foundation. And so I would like to engage parents all the more, and I'd like to see parents be a part of their child's education process. And at the end of the day, whatever our education policy is, it only goes so far as halfway because the parent has to meet us, has to meet us at the other half. And so what I would say in terms of the financing of our schools is I'd like to put parents more in control of their tax dollars and of the tax dollars that we allocate for the education of children. And I think if we were to do this, we would see more efficient school systems and more reflective school systems of the values of a parent and whether or not they would prioritize a four-day school week or a five-day school week. I'm sorry, I can't really speak to the particular issue of four to five days. That's not something I know all of the information about, and I'd have to learn a lot more. But that's just broadly speaking, I think, a way forward when talking about the issue of funding in general."
Amendment 3 will appear on the November ballot. If passed, it will amend the Missouri Constitution to provide the right for reproductive freedom. Do you support this amendment? Why or why not?
"No, I don't support the amendment because it allows for abortion up until birth. And I'm someone who doesn't believe in that. I think it also creates all sorts of precarious language around women's health in general. It fails to protect women in a health care environment and doesn't require that they're looked after in the same way that some of our statutes do right now, which speaks maybe to the broader danger of of taking issues that are maybe best within our law books and trying to implant them into our constitutional system. The constitution and the initiative petition process that got that question on the ballot are not very scrupulous but is still, nonetheless, universal. And so, when you have a very easy process to get something into the constitution, I think it creates a real danger to the people's constitution and the people's government as a whole whereas the legislative process oftentimes takes years and years to get a bill done or accomplished. It's because it's really scrupulous, it's because it's challenging. And I think it's good for it to be challenging. And it's good to have so many eyes looking at the language. I don't know that we've had enough eyes looking at the particular language of this amendment, and I think it actually damages women's health, ironically. And so I will be against that amendment come November."
How can we bridge the political divisions in our state?
"That's, that's like the million dollar question, isn't it? I think, it sounds cliche, I do my best to take responsibility and to try not to blame people, and so prioritizing those relationships in your life that offer something different in their perspective. And I guess I would, I would mainly be speaking to conservatives and Republicans right now because we are, by and large, a conservative state. There's more conservatives than there are than there are liberals. And for that reason, I think it's incumbent upon the conservatives to seek out different perspective, because those conservatives are probably more likely to maybe not have a different perspective in their immediate circle or have a different perspective in their life. I mean, the same can be said for those blue states as well. I think it's probably more incumbent for liberals to take on the responsibility of meeting conservatives and talking with them and engaging with challenging ideas. And so I think starting there is probably a really good place to begin, you know, sharing meals. I'm trying to give practical advice, right? Not just broad overtures, but it's, it seems to me that when people share meals, there's something subconscious about the commonality at the table, right? We both are needing this to sustain ourselves, right? We both, are hopefully enjoying ourselves because the food is tasty or whatever the case may be. And so I think, I think just trying to have conversations over meals with people who think differently than us would go a long way into bridge building within our state."
