Democratic candidate Michael Davis to challenge for District 147 seat

Navy veteran, Methodist pastor and small-business owner Michael Davis has thrown his hat in the ring as a Democratic candidate for the Missouri House of Representatives District 147 seat.

Davis has been involved with the local Democratic Party for several years, including previously spending time as chairman. As a candidate, he said he hopes to rally voters to his cause by touting his willingness to work across party lines.

"I think that if I can go to Jefferson City and work with reasonable people — Republicans, independents and also Democrats — that we can, in a bipartisan way, come together on some laws that make sense for women, for safer communities and for education," Davis said. "Working together, that’s kind of what I’m about. If anything is said about me, it’s the guy that pulls people together to get things done."

Davis said he hopes to provide "inspired leadership" for the citizens of Cape Girardeau and Missouri.

"Inspired has a very definite meaning for me, and what it evokes for me is an inspiration from my God," Davis said. "It’s kind of like the calling I felt when I went into ministry many years ago. It kind of just hit me as I was sitting one day in church, listening to one of the best preachers in Methodism who was always inspirational for me. ... I felt the same way, though it was not quite the same experience, of course. One evening I was sitting and listening to a speaker, and it occurred to me after hearing this person I needed to run for office. It was just another inspiration."

His platform includes fully funding public education, fostering safe communities through improved pay and better access to health care, promoting women’s rights and rebuilding the middle class.

"There are things that we need to do in Jefferson City. I’m talking about the things that are happening, or better yet not happening, because the state Legislature right now seems to be having difficulty, even with a Republican supermajority," Davis said. "I would like to help that process by working with Republicans, independents and Democrats alike, to try to make sure that we can pass legislation that makes sense. I think in that way, having entered a helping profession like ministry, that I can help a lot of people through politics and get some things done, and there’s a lot to do."

Davis is originally from Waynesville. He has lived in several places around the country during his 30 years as a Methodist pastor and former member of the Navy. His ministry led him to the Cape Girardeau area, where he has since retired. Currently, Davis serves as the pastor at Reagan’s Chapel in Bollinger County.

Davis said he served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War from 1966-1970 and helped take care of soldiers who returned from overseas while he was stationed at a Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C.

"It was tragic in some ways," Davis said. "We had several come back that died while they were there in the hospital, and I really felt for those men, particularly when I got out. What I experienced was, I ran into veterans that were homeless, and tried to help them. One of the things that occurred to me, that I found out later in the mid-'80s, is more men, more veterans, died because of the Vietnam experience from suicide and other sources like Agent Orange than had died in the war itself."

In addition to his ministry and military service, Davis handcrafts and sells acoustic guitars through his business, Melo-Dee Guitars.

"I think if (voters) want to have something happen for the better in Jefferson City, that I’m the person that can carry a message loud and clear that things need to change," Davis said. "That’s what I’ll take to Jeff City — I’ll be a loud voice for the people not just here in Cape, but for people all over the state of Missouri."