Three vying for 147th House District seat

While voters in the 146th House District will see only one name on the ballot for the state representative seat, those in the 147th House District will see three.

Incumbent Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, is running unopposed, while Cape Girardeau Republican Kathy Swan faces Democrat Gary Gaines and Libertarian Greg Tlapek in her run for re-election.

The district is a pretty conservative one that typically supports Republican candidates, but the two challengers said they managed to find common ground with the voters they met on the campaign trail.

Gaines said he realizes beating a Republican incumbent is "a very, very long shot," but said he's enjoyed the opportunity to try and connect more with voters.

"One of the barriers is some people, when they hear I'm on the Democratic ticket, they don't want to talk anymore," he said. "They're not necessarily rude; they're just done with me. But a lot of people, if we continue our discussion and they hear that I am very conservative on fiscal issues and I support gun rights and a lot of conservative values that people around here believe in, then we connect."

Gary Gaines

The issues he often discusses with voters tend to center on the economy. Gaines explained the issue "isn't necessarily a scarcity of jobs," but a scarcity of well-paying jobs in the 147th district. In addition to discussing employment and living wage, he said he's spoken to voters who belong to unions about the likelihood of Missouri becoming a right-to-work state.

"A lot of workers see that as hurting their situation more because it would really weaken unions and weaken the working person's ability to arbitrate to talk to management about wages and other things," he said.

Gaines said he's met many voters who fall in the health care gap, making too much to receive government assistance but unable to afford to purchase a plan or receive one through their employer. That's part of the reason Gaines said he's in favor of Medicaid expansion.

"The estimates are that [lack of Medicaid expansion] affects about 300,000 people, the working poor, who don't qualify for any sort of government assisted medical insurance," he said. "That frustrates them and it does me a little bit, too, because, honestly, I think most of them could quit their jobs and qualify for Medicaid, but that's not what we want to happen."

Swan also said she doesn't want to promote a system that discourages individuals from working just because they need health insurance. But any type of expansion would require legislative review. Determining who would be eligible and how the system would be financed without federal assistance are two of the most important factors to consider to remain cost-effective, she said.

Greg Tlapek

"Instead of individuals thinking the best way to get health coverage is to not work, let's incentivize working," Swan said. "Let's develop a program that rewards those who are working but still provides health coverage so they're able to provide for their families and gain experience for more success in the workplace."

From the very beginning of his campaign, Tlapek said he's had very specific ideas about health care.

"[The state should] deregulate health care and make Missouri the Mecca for health care; the most free-market place in America for people who are wanting to provide or get health care," he said.

He pointed to the success of the Oklahoma Surgery Center, a physician-owned facility in Oklahoma City that makes its procedure prices public to encourage competition within the marketplace, as proof the state could benefit from such a shift. He also said he believes it would draw more entrepreneurs and creative thinkers to the state, but said it would take some time to figure out exactly what changes the state could make and to "chip away" at existing regulations.

Tlapek also is interested in making changes to the state's education system. He's in favor of reducing the state sales tax by 1 cent and instituting a means-tested tuition for public schools. It's a proposal he said he's come to favor after more than a year of considering the expense locally and statewide for education, and discussing it with teachers and other individuals.

"Teachers may not agree on how to get parents invested, but they seem to universally agree when education goes bad for a child, it's often because the parents are not involved in their education," Tlapek said. "I contend parents will never have any real control over their children's education until they are paying for it."

Education has long been an issue Swan considers among the top of her list. If re-elected, she said she plans to continue to pursue bills she's sponsored in the past that would expand education opportunities across the state. She wants to take a look at the world of online learning to see whether there's a way to provide more classes and training opportunities for students, teachers and other workers. By "removing the roadblocks from success," whether it's access to certain college courses, the expense or access to broadband Internet, Swan said the state could help create a better-prepared work force.

The race between the three so far has been a quiet one, and Gaines said even in the final days he expects it will stay that way. He's heard voters complain about negative advertisements they see for races in Illinois and Kentucky, but Missouri's 147th district has been free of such mudslinging.

"I think we're very fortunate here in the 147th district," Gaines said. "From running for office, I've got to know Greg Tlapek and Kathy Swan both a little bit and they're both nice people. There's been no negative advertising and no criticism and I don't think there will be. It's not an issue here."

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.