State senator, city councilman vie for 116th House District seat

Two-term state Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, hopes to keep serving Missouri by replacing outgoing House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, in the new 116th House District.

Meanwhile, Farmington City Councilman John Robinson hopes to beat Engler in Tuesday's Republican primary to make his first trip to the state legislature. With no Democrats on the ballot, the winner of Tuesday's primary race will secure the open seat. Tilley could not seek re-election due to term limits.

Engler says his experience makes him the stronger candidate, having served in the Missouri House for one term from 2003 to 2004 and in the Senate from 2005 through 2012. He also served six years as mayor of Farmington and one year on the city council. He said he's proud of sponsoring legislation to make English the official language of the Missouri state government, preserve the sanctity of marriage and allow the governor to lower flags to half-staff in honor of Missouri soldiers killed in action.

Robinson, an insurance agent, is serving his first term on the Farmington City Council. He was motivated to seek a house seat after learning during his time on the council that many of the issues the city was facing required action on the state level, he said.

"I felt like I could make a greater impact and help the counties and cities by making a difference in the state," Robinson said.

The counties and cities that make up the new 116th House District are slightly different from Tilley's 106th. The 116th still includes portions of Perry, Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties, but now it includes just one-third of Perryville's city limits -- while Tilley had half -- and two-thirds of Farmington -- which Tilley represented all of. The rest of Perryville is in the new 145th District, where Shelley Keeney, a Marble Hill Republican, is the only major-party candidate who filed.

Engler received campaign contributions during July of $16,350, for a total of $140,562 this election. He had $40,689 on hand as of July 30. During the past month, Engler received donations from seven labor organizations and 12 political action committees.

Last month Robinson raised $700, which brought his total to $6,855, leaving him with about $2,500 cash on hand at the end of July. Robinson's funds received in July came from one individual contribution.

Some may view Engler's run for the House as a step backward, but he says it's more likely to happen in the future due to term limits.

Robinson said his top priority is to enforce the 10th Amendment, which allows states to resist federal intrusion.

"States receive so many federal funds and there are so many strings attached. I don't think many people understand things that we don't have to receive a supreme law in our state. If we were truly to enforce the 10th Amendment, Obamacare wouldn't be forced on us. It would be null and void in our state," Robinson said.

Pro-life legislation is also important to Robinson, who was endorsed by Missouri Right to Life.

When it comes to lowering unemployment and creating jobs, Robinson said he would work to rein in regulations.

"We really need to get our hands around these regulatory agencies that are regulating farms and all these businesses. EPA, DNR, they stifle growth," Robinson said.

Robinson also supports tax rate restructuring.

Engler said job creation is his No. 1 priority and the only way the country will come out of this bad economy.

"It's not the state's job to actually create them, it's the state's job in my opinion to create an environment where they can be created and businesses can be profitable," Engler said.

Workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, and tort reforms are all needed, he said, to make Missouri a more business-friendly state. Engler doesn't support efforts to make Missouri a right-to-work state, saying that decision should be left up to individual counties.

"If counties that are outstate want to become right to work or we want to have a hybrid system, but just to say we're going to get rid of it [unions] is very difficult because we have a highly unionized Kansas City and St. Louis metropolitan area and a highly non-unionized outstate," Engler said.

Robinson said he previously supported right to work, but now he sees "both sides of the coin."

"At one point I was a 100 percent proponent, but I see the benefit of labor unions, too," Robinson said. "Honestly, what it's going to come down to for me is what constituents want."

mmiller@semissourian.com

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Perryville, Mo.

Farmington, Mo.