6th Senate candidates disagree on who reflects district

The race for Missouri’s sixth Senate District is framed across the Republican incumbent’s voting file, which a challenger of the identical social gathering contends is not consultant of the district.

Mike Bernskoetter, a Cole County Republican and first-term state senator representing Mid-Missouri’s sixth Senate District, faces challenger Scott Riedel, a Camden County Republican and Military veteran who served domestically and abroad as an air protection artillery officer and chaplain for 31 years, within the Aug. 2 Republican main election.

Riedel mentioned Bernskoetter’s voting file is not conservative sufficient.

Bernskoetter mentioned his opponent is conflating procedural votes together with his place on a number of points, similar to scholar athletes taking part on sports activities groups that do not correspond to their intercourse at start and the educating of important race concept at public universities. The 2 candidates additionally disagree on the most recent improve to Missouri’s gasoline tax.

There aren’t any different candidates from different events vying for the seat, that means the election might be determined in August.

Riedel, who mentioned he has been campaigning since October, described Bernskoetter’s voting file as “radical” for the district and mentioned it is the rationale he joined the race.

“His voting file is simply actually not according to his conservative district,” Riedel mentioned. “And belief me, after I exit door-to-door and I inform them that I am a conservative Republican, all people says, ‘Oh thank God.’ So that offers you an thought what they need and once they see his voting file, they don’t seem to be pleased in any respect.”

Bernskoetter mentioned he stands behind his voting file as conservative, and voters in the neighborhood acknowledge it.

“I am very happy with my voting file,” he mentioned. “I am pro-life. I voted to chop taxes. I have been the chairman of agriculture and carried out what I can do for farms and household farms. I am a small-business proprietor, and I’ve at all times regarded out for the small-business group after I’m voting. I am very happy with my voting file, we simply have this group that is turning our voting information round, or making an attempt to show our voting information round, however the folks of my district do not imagine that stuff that The 100 PAC is placing out. They know that these issues aren’t true.”

The 100 PAC is a political motion committee aligned with members of the Senate’s Conservative Caucus and operated by Jim Lembke, a former state senator. The PAC helps Republican candidates who’ve vowed to hitch the Conservative Caucus. However Lembke has beforehand mentioned it will not get entangled with Senate races during which a GOP incumbent is working. The PAC hasn’t financially contributed to Riedel’s marketing campaign neither is he pictured among the many candidates on the PAC’s web site.

In a marketing campaign handout, Riedel states Bernskoetter voted to extend the state tax on gasoline, for important race concept to be taught at public universities and for “males enjoying in lady sports activities and allowed in locker rooms.”

Riedel mentioned he would vote to eradicate the state’s most up-to-date gasoline tax improve and Missouri’s private property tax.

Bernskoetter voted in favor of the gasoline tax improve in 2021, as did 11 different Senate Republicans and 9 Senate Democrats. Twelve Republicans and one Democrat voted towards the measure. With gasoline costs growing and tax vacation proposals provided final session, Bernskoetter mentioned he might be in favor of a one-year pause on the gasoline tax improve, however he wouldn’t help efforts to repeal the tax.

“I imply, they’ve even talked about repealing the federal tax and so they have not carried out that, but when we needed to pause it for a 12 months till issues leveled off,” he mentioned. “However the principle purpose for the rise in value of gasoline has nothing to do with the two.5 cents that we imposed.”

Bernskoetter blamed elevated gasoline costs on federal insurance policies enacted by President Joe Biden.

He mentioned the funds generated from the state gasoline tax are important for infrastructure restore, noting Missouri has the sixth largest transportation system however is available in at forty second in funding for the system and the gasoline tax hadn’t been elevated since 1996 so earnings hasn’t saved tempo with common inflation. He mentioned it is not conservative to neglect the state’s highway system.

Riedel mentioned he would additionally vote to ban transgender athletes from becoming a member of sports activities and utilizing locker rooms and restrooms that do not correspond to their intercourse at start, which he claims Bernskoetter helps. He mentioned he was disenchanted Bernskoetter did not advance measures over the past legislative session that may have outlawed it.

Bernskoetter mentioned his opponent is referring to his vote on a movement to put the subject over for extra examine and he does not help transgender college students taking part on their chosen sports activities groups.

“They’re cherry-picking votes, and so they’re turning them throughout and saying that I am in favor of transgender sports activities,” he mentioned. “There’s not a Republican up there that is in favor of that.”

Riedel mentioned he would additionally vote to ban important race concept, a decades-old educational framework that takes a important strategy to race in relation to social establishments, from being taught in public colleges and universities. He mentioned he would additionally vote for laws that returns college curriculum decisions again to native districts.

“We do not need ideology taught,” Riedel mentioned. “We wish studying, writing and arithmetic taught.”

Vital race concept research the best way race and racism affect politics, tradition and the regulation, difficult the concept racism must be seen as a person prejudice. It as a substitute views racism as systemic.

Bernskoetter mentioned he is additionally not supportive of important race concept being taught in public colleges, regardless of Riedel’s claims on the contrary. Bernskoetter mentioned his opponent was once more complicated his vote to review the problem extra together with his place on the topic.

“This is not grade college scholar council; the issues we are saying and the issues we do and the way we do them are essential. You’ll be able to’t simply throw stuff on the market and see what occurs,” he mentioned. “We get either side of the problem and absolutely vet the problem. After which we craft laws and hopefully we will provide you with the perfect laws and you know the way you are going to implement it and if there’s going to be penalties for this or that.”

Final legislative session, ideological fractures amongst Senate Republicans saddled progress on plenty of social gathering priorities. Senate management blamed a gaggle of seven Republican senators, often known as the Conservative Caucus, for using stall ways and attaching controversial amendments to harm the viability of laws. The division most noticeably impacted the state’s congressional redistricting course of as members of the Conservative Caucus filibustered for weeks to move a map that favored seven Republican-leaning seats, versus six.

Riedel mentioned his means to make progress on these points relies on who’s elected.

“If I used to be to go in there proper now, I do not suppose I might get something carried out,” he mentioned. “I imply, I might do the perfect I might, however actually this comes all the way down to who’s elected.”

If the Republican incumbents up for election are voted out of workplace, Riedel mentioned that opens the door for individuals who share views extra much like his to be elected. With a PAC established, there is a motion afoot to develop the ranks of the Conservative Caucus that might oust management. However Riedel mentioned he is not sure whether or not he’ll instantly be part of the Conservative Caucus if elected.

Bernskoetter, who was aligned with Senate Republican management all through the final session, mentioned his voting file and legislative achievements present he can work with different lawmakers to move laws into regulation.

Scott Riedel