Cape County Democrats to push initiative petition drives

The Cape Girardeau County Democratic Party will push petition drives to put two measures on the statewide ballot in November, local party chairman Jonathan Kessler said Monday.

One is the �Clean Missouri� initiative that seeks to make state government more transparent and ensure neither political party is given an unfair advantage when new legislative district maps are drawn after the next census, Kessler said.

The other initiative, �Raise Up Missouri,� would increase the state minimum wage from its current $7.85 an hour to $8.60 an hour with 85-cent-per-hour increases each year until 2023. At that point, the state minimum wage would be $12 an hour, according to the petition�s website.

At a news conference in the Broadway Federal building, Kessler said legislative districts have been drawn in such a way it ensures Republicans will win elections in many cases.

�We understand Missouri is a conservative-leaning state,� he said. But Missouri is not a red state or a blue state, but more of a �magenta� state, he said, arguing Missouri voters are not solidly in one political camp.

State legislative and congressional districts in Missouri �should not be designed to serve one party or another,� Kessler said.

�We believe if election districts were drawn for voters instead of politicians, we would see better results,� he added.

The �Clean Missouri� initiative also seeks to ensure the Legislature operates under the same Open Records law other public entities do, require politicians to wait two years before becoming lobbyists, eliminate almost all lobbyist gifts for state lawmakers and lower campaign contribution limits.

Kessler said the Democratic Party also will seek to recruit candidates to run in every legislative district in the state.

In the current political atmosphere in which Republican President Donald Trump has sparked strong opposition from many Americans, Kessler said the party �could produce more votes in this region than we have in the past 20 years.�

mbliss@semissourian.com

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