At a Cape Girardeau meet-and-greet, Missouri 8th District and statehouse candidates met voters to discuss healthcare, education, affordability and choices on the ballot. This Story was shared by the Southeast Missouri State University Campus News Organization The Arrow.
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Cape Girardeau residents gathered Friday evening for a community meet-and-greet hosted by Indivisible SEMO. Held at Arena Park, the event brought together residents from across Missouri’s 8th Congressional District to meet candidates running for the United States House of Representatives.
Attendees had the chance to ask questions, discuss local and national issues and meet the candidates face to face.
Several candidates attended to connect directly with voters. Some of the attendees included Democrats Clayton Harbison, Frank Barnitz and Chris Reichard; Republican Gordon Heslop; and Libertarian Rebecca Sharpe Lombard.
One of these candidates was Clayton Harbison, who is running as a Democrat for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District.
Harbison shared why he believes he is a good choice to represent voters in the district.
“We need somebody that gets the trials and issues of a common person. I have to deal with childcare. I have to deal with making sure all the bills are paid,” Harbison said. “Common people are disconnected from politics, and politicians are disconnected from the common people.”
Another democratic candidate, Frank Barnitz, also attended. Barnitz explained there are three main issues voters are concerned about as the election nears.
“There’s three items we found across the district that continue to be of importance to everyone. Of course, there’s other items within districts that are within counties that find them more important than other issues, but the three that kind of hit all the time are healthcare, public education and affordability,” Barnitz said.
Barnitz also shared why he believes events like the meet-and-greet are important leading up to elections.
“It gives us an opportunity for us to come to one spot and meet multiple people with different ideas and different questions, so we get a feeling of what the community in that area is kind of thinking about. It gives us a lot better ability than just going to individuals. It gives us one spot to get a culmination of everyone,” Barnitz said.
Tim Palmer, who is running for the Missouri House of Representatives, District 147, explained his perspective on why events like the meet-and-greet are important.
“One of the big reasons I came here today is I want to make sure Missourians actually know that there are choices in this election. A lot of times, Missourians have been told that it's a red state, there's just red options, and there's no chance of getting anywhere else. This is proof that that’s not true. This is proof that there are new people on the ballot, new people trying to make things happen, and this is our best year to make a change,” Palmer said.
Beyond the candidates, community members attended to connect with the candidates and share their thoughts on issues on the ballot. One community member in attendance was Dr. Leslie Pollina, a retired SEMO professor of psychology. Pollina shared why she came out to attend the meet-and-greet.
“I came out here today because I’m concerned about the future of my country, and I really would like to see some better things ahead,” Pollina said. “I want the kids that come after me, all the folks that come after me, to have a better life than they’re getting now.”
