Candidates for Missouri House District 129 are John Gray and Will Worsham. Worsham did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls from the Informed Voter Coalition asking him to participate.
John Gray
Fessler: Good afternoon. I'm Emily Fessler with the League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, one of the nonpartisan organizations that make up the Informed Voter Coalition. Today, we are interviewing candidates for Missouri House District 129. They are John Gray and Will Worsham. John Gray will have one minute to introduce himself and two minutes to respond to each question. John Gray, thank you very much for joining us. Let's begin by having you introduce yourself and tell us why you've decided to run for this office. You have one minute.
Gray: Thank you for having me. My name is John Gray. I am 26 years old, and I am the Democratic candidate for state representative in District 129. And for those who don't know what District 129 is, it is Webster County. I'm a product of the Marshfield Public School systems, where I graduated in 2018. And then I went to Drury University for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. So I finished schooling there in '24, worked a little bit in nonprofit at SWI Industrial here in Springfield. Then I went to Boston for a semester to further my education, And then I moved back home. And since then I've been working at Drury substitute teaching. And yeah, that's a little bit about me.
Fessler: What role should citizen led initiative petitions play in Missouri's policy making process? And what, if any, reforms would you support regarding how voter approved measures can be changed or overturned by the legislature?
Gray: I think the initiative petition is a very powerful tool for citizens here in the state. Two things can be true at the same time. It's good for citizens to have it if they feel their government, government is not serving them. At the same time, I would be open to looking at ways to maybe raise the threshold just a little bit to, to ensure that this is what the people of Missouri really want.
Fessler: What is your position on proposals to reduce or eliminate Missouri state income tax? And how would you address the potential impact on state revenue, services and other sources of taxation?
Gray: We saw this in the primary election when Amendment 5 was on the ballot. And this is actually one of the issues that my opponent and I very much differ on. He is in favor of eliminating the income tax, and I am not. And the reason I'm not is because a lot of essential state services rely on that income tax. And a sales tax, in my opinion, unfairly puts the burden on those who can't afford it and our seniors. And I just don't think that's right. When I first announced I was running for this campaign, the Springfield News-Leader did an article, and they labeled me as the public schools advocate. And that's a label that I'm proud of because public education is my top priority. I think the foundation formula needs to be fully funded, and transportation needs to be fully funded to get kids to and from public schools. And for those who don't know, my district is a rural district. And oftentimes public schools are the lifeblood of our communities. The largest employer. They are, they are the, the things that matter the most in our communities. And we need to make sure that they're fully funded. And like I said, that is my utmost priority.
Fessler: What do you believe the results of the August election indicate about the priorities or concerns of Missouri voters? And how would those results influence your approach if elected?
Gray: The voters sent a very clear message to the state government in this last election in my opinion. Both of those measures failed with 80% of the people who voted against them, and I think that needs to send a message. And it has sent a message saying, listen, we don't agree with what's being proposed, which is one of the reasons I'm running, is I think our current government is not necessarily in tune with the people, and we need people in government who listen to the will of the people who work for the people. There's been an atmosphere of almost legislative arrogance in recent years, and I think we need to get back to basics that when you're elected, you don't work for yourself. You work for the people who elected you.
Fessler: Missouri's attorney general and secretary of state both pushed back against a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling on the map that was approved by legislators during a special session last year and took it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Do you feel Missouri officials should always respect Missouri Supreme Court rulings? Why or why not?
Gray: Absolutely. Just, just like the, the federal Supreme Court, you know, that's the law of the land. And just because they don't like the outcome doesn't mean that it's their duty to impose their will on something that they don't like.
Fessler: Rural hospitals and healthcare access remain an ongoing concern across much of Missouri. What is one specific state level action you would support to address rural healthcare access or hospital closures?
Gray: I think we need to, and if I was doing it, I would look at the funds and seeing where they're coming from now and just making sure that those funds are protected. And if there is an opportunity to expand those funds to ensure that our rural hospitals are getting the money that they need, I would be, you know, all ears and would look forward to looking at ways to ensure that they get the funding that they need.
Fessler: And to conclude, please tell us what your top priorities will be if you are elected. You have two minutes.
Gray: Absolutely. So like I said earlier, my top priority is public education. Both of my parents are retired public school educators. My mother taught for 31 years in the Marshfield Public Schools, and my dad taught here in Springfield for 30 years. And so I I've been raised in the public schools. I'm a public school product. And I think that that should — we need legislators that recognize the importance of public schools, knowing that they are the great equalizer. They take kids, no matter their socioeconomic backgrounds, their varying level of abilities, it doesn't matter. And like I said, especially in rural areas, public schools are the lifeblood of communities. And so my top priority would to be, would be to see that the foundation formula is fully funded, and transportation to get those kids to and from school is fully funded. And in recent weeks we've seen some decisions regarding the funding of public schools that are not making a lot of people happy, especially back in my district. And so that is the top priority. And then really just, whether you agree with issues or not, we need legislators that respect the will of the people. And I know I've said that before, but it's really as simple as that. We are not elected to do what we want to do. We're elected to do what our constituents want us to do, and it's okay to disagree with some of the issues, but really, we can't have a government that works against us. We need a government that works for us.
Fessler: John, that concludes our interview. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us.
Gray: Thank you again for having me again.
Nico Burasco served as videographer for the candidate interviews.