Candidates running for the Republican spot on the November ballot for Missouri Senate District 20 are Lori Rook and incumbent Missouri Senator Curtis Trent.
This interview and others for the August 4 Primary Election were coordinated and carried out by the Informed Voter Coalition. Members of the coalition are: Be Civil, Be Heard, Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics & Citizenship, Ozarks Public Broadcasting, Leadership Springfield, League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, Missouri State University, NAACP Springfield, Ozarks Technical Community College’s Social Sciences Department, Rosie, Show Me Christian County, Springfield Business Journal, Springfield-Greene County Library District and Springfield News-Leader.
Candidates were asked the same questions developed by the Informed Voter Coalition and given the same amount of time to respond. Candidates were not given the questions in advance, and the order of candidate interviews was determined by random drawing.
Emily Fessler, coordinator of the Informed Voter Coalition, asked the questions.
Lori Rook
Fessler: Thank you so much for joining us. Let's begin by having you introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this office. You have one minute.
Rook: All right. Thank you. Well, I will start by saying that I don't currently hold office. I am a bit of a political outsider. I've been in the private sector running a law firm called Ozarks Elder Law for the last — I've been practicing for 20 years. I've been running that since 2012. I've been married to my husband Ryan for 23 years, and we have three amazing kids. I grew up in the area. I've lived in the district almost my entire life. And so, in my private practice as an estate planning and elder law attorney, I've been advocating for families, fighting for them, planning ahead and standing in the gap.
Fessler: Okay, so the first question, Senate District 20 covers parts of five counties: Barton, Dade, Webster and portions of Greene County. How would you stay accessible and accountable to constituents across that geographic area, and how would you ensure that all voices, not just those of your supporters, are represented?
Rook: Great question. And I think that's something that's missing right now. So, my plan would be to hold regular town halls. I would also be very active on social media and keeping the constituents in those counties apprised of legislation, especially legislation that would specifically impact their district. I think that's missing right now. It's a very diverse district. It's very rural in a lot of parts. And so, those people don't feel heard right now, so my plan would be to make appearances at even local meetings, school board meetings. I think it's very important that these counties not be put into the same box as their neighboring county because their issues that are going on in those counties that are being addressed in Jefferson City are very different. So, I think that's just I think that's a great question, and I think it's missing right now.
Fessler: Missouri has been cutting income taxes, and some legislators have proposed eliminating the state income tax entirely. Do you support full elimination, and how would you ensure essential services, including public schools, infrastructure and public safety, are funded if that revenue is lost?
Rook: So, this is actually something that my opponent, Curtis Trent, has sponsored. This is this is his bill. This is his amendment. I am against it. In general, I am for lower taxes, but we have a spending problem in Missouri. And this is actually going to be an expansion of sales tax. It's expanding the base. It's going to harm those that are on fixed incomes. It's going to harm those that are — have been in the military that aren't necessarily worried about income tax. I don't think this is the right move or the right time. We have been eliminating income tax since 2022. And so, to actually come to a point where we're going to say, hey, we're going to get rid of it, but we're going to give you a sales tax. I don't think it's responsible. I think we need to roll back spending and then have a discussion about how we're going to properly eliminate something like income tax. This type of move can be detrimental to schools and other services. And so, we need to be more responsible. And we have a lot of waste in our budget, a lot of special projects and special interest groups that are essentially asking for a seat at the table. And we need to take a look at making those types of cuts first before we go to the voters and ask them to essentially enact an additional sales tax.
Fessler: Some Missouri legislators have proposed expanding the state's role in immigration enforcement, including empowering local law enforcement to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Do you support state level immigration enforcement, and what limits, if any, would you place on it?
Rook: I believe that if those types of services or if that help is needed, then I believe there — I think it should be done. I think there's a responsible way to do it. I don't think that it should be their primary responsibility, but to the extent that reinforcement is needed or assistance is needed, I am in agreement with that.
Fessler: Trust in the government is low. Why do you think that is, and what actions would you take to help instill trust both in the government and in your role as an elected official?
Rook: I think. I think you are right. I think it's both parties right now that there is a lack of trust, and it's a lack of transparency. At the end of the day, it's a lack of transparency. One of the big problems we have in Missouri right now is our senate does not have cameras. We are one of two states that does not have cameras. The senators do not want you to see what's going on. And that's one of the things that I want to work towards when I'm elected because I think that is a step in the right direction of building trust. We have them on the house side, but we do not have them on the senate side. And it may seem like something small, but I think it's part of a bigger picture of accountability. And if we can't let the people watch and see what's going on on a daily basis, then how do we expect them to trust us? So, that's something, that's just one example of something I think that would push the needle in the right direction in terms of building trust at the state level in Missouri.
Fessler: Lori, that concludes our interview. Thank you so much again for taking time to talk with us.
Rook: Yeah, thank you again.
Missouri Senator Curtis Trent
Fessler: Thank you so much for joining us. Would you please introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this position? You have one minute.
Trent: Yeah. So, Curtis Trent, currently representing Senate District 20 for the last four years. Grew up right here in southwest Missouri, fifth generation Missourian. I grew up on a little farm. We always kind of joked that the most abundant crop was rocks, but we always tried to perch a few cows on top of it as well. I ran for this position. I'm running for reelection because I care deeply about our community and its future and believe that good public policy, or the lack thereof, is one of the main things holding back our state from achieving greater levels of prosperity and greater standard of living for all Missourians.
Fessler: First question. Senate District 20 covers parts of five counties: Barton, Dade, Webster and portions of Greene County. How would you stay accessible and accountable to constituents across that geographic area, and how would you ensure that all voices, not just those of your supporters, are represented?
Trent: Well, I've been very accessible for the last four years that I've been in office. I print my cell phone on a lot of my literature that I hand out to folks. I always am happy to show up at events and meetings and things and just try to be very present in the community. I was at, you know, two fairs this last weekend. I'm going to be at the Marshfield Fair and Parade for a lot of this week. So, any time that folks are out there and about in the community there's a good chance I'll be there.
Fessler: Missouri has been cutting income taxes, and some legislators have proposed eliminating the state income tax entirely. Do you support full elimination, and how would you ensure that essential services, including public schools, infrastructure and public safety, are funded if that revenue is lost?
Trent: Yeah, I support reducing and eliminating Missouri's income tax because, as you said in your question, it's already a policy that has been pursued by the General Assembly for over a decade now, and during that period of time, for every dollar of taxes that have been cut, over two and a half dollars of new revenue has come in. And that tells me a couple of things. One, the income tax is truly a terrible way to raise revenue for the state. It discourages productivity. It's very opaque. The public has really no idea how much income tax that they're paying. And it's a real drag on the economy. And two, we are taxed too much. Any time that you're reducing taxes and seeing revenue growth, that means that the economy is rapidly expanding. And the only reason that that would be happening as a result of changes in tax policy, is if you were taxing too much and thereby depressing the economy. So ironically, by cutting taxes and by getting rid of the income tax entirely, we would very much likely have more revenue to come into the state to do the kinds of things that we want to do on education and the other services that the state provides, and the public will have more control and more transparency over their government.
Fessler: Some Missouri legislators have proposed expanding the state's role in immigration enforcement, including empowering local law enforcement to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Do you support state level immigration enforcement, and what limits, if any, would you place on it?
Trent: So, I very much support state level control over and enforcement of immigration. I think we should be very closely partnered with the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement. And the simple matter is that there should not be any immigrant crime in Missouri because there should not be any illegal immigrants in the state. And our law enforcement, we have great police in Missouri. They are able, and they want to help enforce these rules. And so, we should empower them to do that, both with a state level crime that would allow them to detain someone and take them to the nearest port of entry for deportation, and with other tools like criminal asset forfeiture to defray the cost to the public of enforcing our nation's immigration laws.
Fessler: Last question. Trust in the government is low. Why do you think that is, and what actions would you take to help instill trust in both the government and in your role as an elected official?
Trent: I mean, I think there's a lot of mistrust in government because people see a gap between the things people talk about when they campaign, the things that people promise when they're out on the trail and the things that they actually do and that actually happen once they're elected. And so, I have tried to be very transparent, every time that I've run for office, to talk about the issues that I care about, the kinds of legislation that I'll propose. And then I've followed through with both action and results when elected to office. And I plan to continue to do that if reelected to the 20th Senatorial District.
Brent Slane produced the videos for the candidate interviews.
