GOP candidates Greitens, Randles campaign in Cape Girardeau

Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens and GOP lieutenant governor candidate Bev Randles campaigned at separate events Thursday in Cape Girardeau.

Greitens hosted a town-hall meeting at My Daddy’s Cheesecake, which was attended by about 40 people.

Randles, who is making her first run for political office, spoke to more than 20 members of the Southeast Missouri Pachyderm Club later in the day at Dexter Bar-B-Que.

Both candidates appealed to voters to help them win their Aug. 2 primaries.

Greitens said he is running for governor because “our government is broken.” He vowed to clean up state government by banning all gifts from lobbyists.

“Missouri is the only state in the nation with no limits on gifts that lobbyists can give legislators,” he said.

Greitens described himself as a “conservative outsider” who is “the front-runner in this race.”

A former Navy SEAL, Greitens said if elected governor, he would help veterans receive the medical care they deserve and make it easier for them to obtain civilian employment.

Greitens said he supports the constitutional right to bear arms, opposes abortion and believes pastors should not have to perform gay marriages if it goes against their faith.

After the town-hall meeting, Greitens defended his candidacy against Republicans who have charged he is not a true conservative. Greitens said he grew up in a Democratic family but since has become a conservative.

He was a guest at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. But Greitens said he attended in his role as head of The Mission Continues, a Missouri-based, not-for-profit organization that helps veterans get back on their feet and give back to their communities. He said he did not attend the convention for partisan politics.

Greitens maintained “God, country and service all come first” before politics in his life.

“My opponents are career politicians who put politics first,” he said.

Randles, who grew up in Sikeston, Missouri, and now works as a lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri, stressed her conservative values.

She said major changes are needed in Missouri, including economic ones.

“Missouri’s economy ranks 47th in the nation,” she said.

Randles described herself as a “free-market person.”

She told the crowd, “I think the free market is the best way to grow our economy.”

“We have got to reduce the regulatory burden in this state. There is way too much regulation,” she said.

Randles also said Missouri needs “responsible tort reform.” She added, “We need to make sure we are not allowing businesses to be sued out of existence.”

She said the Missouri Republican Party must have better messengers to reach out to voters.

“We are losing because we can never peel off enough voters in St. Louis, Kansas City and parts of Columbia,” she said.

Randles said, “I think we need fresh leadership in Jefferson City.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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236 S. Broadview St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

265 S. Broadview St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.