May14-2026
🏛️ Issue of the Week: Stop Election Chaos!
Summary
It’s hard not to shake your head and walk away. The headlines, not just in DC, but here at home seem to get more ridiculous every day. That is the strategy of the current leadership in Missouri- to make things so chaotic that people give up. Missouri is one of the hot spots of the nation in this effort to target our public schools, our budget, and even our election process.
I’ll talk about all of these in upcoming weeks, but this week, I’m focused on elections. Here is what you should know:
The Secretary of State Needs to Do the Job Taxpayers Pay Him to Do:
It’s almost Memorial Day and we do not know what our voting districts are for the primary or the general elections. Why not?
• Governor Kehoe and the State Legislature, wanting to please a President with low approval ratings, voted for an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting of the state of Missouri.
• Redistricting split the state into the map that was rejected just 5 years ago, which breaks up Kansas City, preventing voters with common interests from being able to elect someone who represents them.
• A massive legal challenge and a citizen petition initiative both kicked into gear within days of redistricting to push for voter approval of the redistricted maps.
• The citizen petition drive turned in far more signatures than needed before the deadline to force a public vote on the redistricting.
• Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has decided not to certify the petitions until the last possible deadline- August 4- also the date of the Primary Election causing both the primary and general elections to be called into question, as no one would know what the districts would be.
• If Secretary Hoskins did his job in a timely manner and certified the signatures, it confirms the existing maps and allows Missourians the right to vote on the unprecedented mid-decade redistricting for future elections – as is dictated by law.
• By not following the legal process, Secretary Hoskins ties this up in the courts, puts the local election boards in jeopardy, makes it impossible to run campaigns, and impossible for voters to have their say on election day.
You’ve got to ask yourself, why are they so afraid of the voters? If they were doing good things for most people, wouldn’t they easily win re-elections? Why the shenanigans? Why the chaos? It’s because they can’t win without ignoring the law, suppressing our votes, and turning off common sense voters.
Key District 33 Details & The Better Path Forward
My opponent supports an unlimited power supermajority that can ignore the law and continue to suppress the will of the voters. It is one of the main reasons I decided to run for State Representative. But I need your help, and I need it now- we are running out of time.
1. Call State Representative Carolyn Caton and tell her to get Secretary of State Hoskins to certify the signatures for the redistricting referendum. 573-751-9766
2. Call State Senator Mike Cierpoit and tell him to do the same. 573-751-1464
3. Call Speaker of the House Jon Patterson and tell him to do the same. 573-751-0907
4. Call Governor Kehoe and tell him to do the same. 573-751-3222.
5. Start following this issue with local journalism (see earlier issue of the week) and talk to your community about it. People need to know!
You may not think your calls matter, but if they get enough of them, they know they can’t suppress our voices or our votes.
Conclusion
We need to stop the chaos now. This is not how Democracy works. This is how Democracy dies. Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time." We must fight for our messy, but fairest system in the world, and we must do it now. WE are the government- all of us. Democrats, Independents AND Republicans. We all deserve a vote- but that means ALL parties must play by the rules and respect all the voices- not just the ones they agree with. I will always do that as your State Representative.
End Note: For those who are able and willing, there is a peaceful protest this Friday, May 15 at noon outside the Secretary of State’s office in Jefferson City to demand certification of the referendum.