Missouri GOP congressional candidates on marriage rights, money, more
Republican candidates vying to be southwest Missouri’s next representative in Congress hit the radio waves Wednesday evening, with all eight participating in a forum where they outlined their backgrounds, experiences and priorities.
Emergency room physician Sam Alexander, pastor Alex Bryant, state Sens. Eric Burlison and Mike Moon, former state Sen. Jay Wasson, retired Col. Paul Walker and prior candidates Audrey Richards and Camille Lombardi-Olive all fielded questions on specific policy issues, outlined their platforms and rebutted opponents’ criticisms on KWTO (93.3 FM). The forum was moderated by KWTO news director Don Louzader and former Missouri Republican House Speakers Tim Jones and Elijah Haahr, both of whom host talk shows on the station.
Throughout the nearly two-hour forum, the GOP field frequently criticized President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill and urged a return to Donald Trump-era policies and priorities. They frequently cited their faith and the Constitution as the guiding forces in their ideologies and campaigns.
Less popular candidates sought to outline their personal biographies while lobbing criticism toward the more well-known and well-financed candidates — Wasson and Burlison — who defended their records as the Aug. 2 election approaches.
More:Watch and listen to candidates running in the Aug. 2 primary for U.S. House, MO legislature
Broad opposition to same-sex marriage protections
Every candidate except Richards said they opposed federal protections for same-sex marriage, which the House passed earlier this week. They declared marriage to be between “a man and a woman” and frequently cited their Christian faith.
“I believe that’s what most people in southwest Missouri believe,” said Bryant, a conservative pastor, who said marriage legalization should be decided by states. “You can do what you want to do, but don’t try to put that into our society, our culture, and then try to permeate that belief to our kids in the schools. That’s the problem, once you get a little inch, they always want to take a mile.”
Burlison, a Battlefield resident who represents Greene and Christian counties in the Missouri Senate, said “I think it’s sad when a country has gone where they don’t recognize the impact that the church once had in the community.”
Moon, also a senator representing four southwest counties, said God “did create Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
Richards, who ran as an independent write-in candidate in 2020, said the matter was “not a government issue” and that “America has far bigger problems.”
Southwest Missouri’s current congressman, U.S. Rep. Billy Long, joined 156 other Republicans on Tuesday by voting against the Respect for Marriage Act.
More:Can a Democrat win back Missouri? In U.S. Senate primary, three candidates take different paths.
Less spending, less regulation
Candidates were asked how they would tame inflation and fix supply chain issues that continue to bog down a number of industries both in the U.S. and globally. Almost all of them called for reductions in federal spending, while proposing solutions for energy independence and lower gas prices.
“Every time they spend money that they don’t…
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