Retired officer announces candidacy for 146th House seat

Retired Cape Girardeau police officer Barry D. Hovis announced his candidacy Tuesday for the 146th Missouri House District seat.

State Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, has reached her term limit and cannot run for re-election in 2018.

Hovis, who lives near Gordonville, is the second Republican candidate to enter the race. In March, Tony Laforest, 51, of Jackson announced he was running for the seat.

The legislative district covers most of Cape Girardeau County, including Jackson.

Hovis served more than 30 years with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. He retired in March.

He farms and has a logging business.

"I enjoy working with people, working for people," he said.

When it comes to political philosophy, Hovis said he favors having "more power or control" in the hands of local government than at the state or national level.

"I am a kind of bottom-up kind of guy," Hovis said. "It makes it a little easier for people to do what they want to do."

Hovis, a longtime member of the Southeast Missouri Pachyderm Club, said he considers himself "more of a conservative on most things rather than a Republican."

A past member of the Cape Girardeau County emergency 911 system board of directors, Hovis said Missouri needs to levy a tax on all phones, including cellphones, to help pay for the emergency service statewide.

Currently, all 911 revenue comes from a tax on landline service. But more and more people have come to rely exclusively on cellphones, he said.

"Missouri is the only state that does not have a tax associated with cellphones," Hovis said.

"There are some upgrades that need to be done which will take some additional revenue," he said.

Hovis said he would like to see the tax lowered but levied on all phone service.

He also wants to streamline government regulations to promote job growth.

"When you have plenty of jobs, it takes a lot of the ills away from your community," he said. "That is why I really want to see Missouri do well with job growth."

During his career with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Hovis served as a patrol officer, school resource officer, community affairs and training officer and lastly served as lieutenant of support operations division, which included the city jail.

Hovis said his "life experiences, hard work and desire to serve" have prepared him for the legislative role.

He and his wife Laura have three children.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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