GOP gubernatorial candidate Greitens vows to clean up state government

Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens vows to clean up state government if elected in November.

“Our government is broken. It is no longer government for the people. It’s become government for the insiders,” he said Friday in a speech to the Cape Girardeau County Republican Women’s Club.

Greitens said Missouri needs “conservative leadership” that will take a stand against the “career politicians, consultants and lobbyists that have been running” state government.

“When I am governor, we are going to ban all gifts from lobbyists,” he said, adding he wants to eliminate the “revolving door” of state lawmakers leaving elected office to become lobbyists.

Missouri has had a Republican governor for only four of the last 24 years, Greitens said, stressing the importance of this year’s election.

A former Navy SEAL and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said, “It’s time for us to take our government back.”

He said Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, failed to act to stop the riots in Ferguson, Missouri.

“Our governor failed to show up,” he told a crowd of nearly 30 people at Dexter Bar-B-Que. Greitens said he would have “the backs of law enforcement” if elected governor.

Greitens said Missouri ranks 47th in economic growth over the past decade and 50th in moving people from welfare to work. If elected, he said, he would work to address those problems.

Greitens, a black belt in taekwondo, an author and a marathon runner, said Democrats and Republicans have criticized him.

“I was born and raised a Democrat, but I am a conservative,” he said.

The St. Louis Republican said his mother plans to vote Republican for the first time later this year when she casts a ballot for him.

In answer to a question from the audience, Greitens said accusations he voted fours years ago for President Barack Obama are false rumors being spread by his political opponents.

Greitens, an opponent of the Common Core curriculum, said he wants to return control of education to local schools.

“The federal government should not be choosing our curriculum,” he said to loud applause.

Greitens also talked about his work with The Mission Continues, a Missouri-based, not-for-profit organization he founded that helps returning veterans get back on their feet. He said he has helped war veterans find jobs.

“There is purpose, meaning and dignity in a job,” he said.

He portrayed himself as a man of action, noting he helped clean out flood-damaged homes after heavy storms in Missouri while other politicians only talked about the devastation.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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