<i>The following candidates are running for District Eight Missouri Senate Republican primary.</i></p><p><b>Gary Dusenberg</b></p><p><b>Why are you seeking this position?</b></p><p>I have always had a passion for serving people and I want to continue working for the people of Eastern Jackson County. My life experience as a US Marine, Missouri State Trooper, Member of the Missouri House of Representatives and small business owner qualifies me to serve as the next senator of the Eighth District. I have the ability to serve as a full-time Senator and will make sure that all citizens have a voice in state government.</p><p><b>What in your opinion are the most important issues facing Blue Springs and rest of your district?</b></p><p>The most important issues facing the Eastern Jackson County area are the retaining of current jobs and businesses, the creation of new jobs to decrease unemployment and to stimulate the local economy and to fully fund education so that our children get a superior education.</p><p><b>If elected, what are your plans to address those issues?</b></p><p>I will work closely with the State Department of Economic Development to ensure that we bring and retain businesses and companies into Eastern Jackson County through incentives that will benefit not only companies, but citizens as well. </p><p>Regarding education, my voting records will show that I have voted for over $440 million dollars in statewide funding. I will continue to ensure that the schools of Eastern Jackson County will have the means to maintain their excellent traditions.</p><p><b>What will you do to help Blue Springs attract and retain businesses?</b></p><p>As a small business owner I understand the challenges that small business owners face in today’s economy. I understand what is needed to attract and retain businesses in Eastern Jackson County and I will work closely with the local chambers of commerce, business leaders and developers to ensure that companies and corporations see the benefit of calling this area home. As an example, I was instrumental in bringing the Missouri Innovation Park to Eastern Jackson County.</p><p><b>Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs are home to some of the best schools in the state, yet the recent cuts in state funding are requiring them to have serious discussions regarding the elimination of programs. What will you do to ensure education remains the top priority at the state level?</b></p><p>Our children’s education is imperative to our future. I have served on the Education Committee for the last eight years and I have a strong relationship with the Eastern Jackson County teachers, administrators and superintendants. I believe in giving them the necessary tools for our children to receive a world class education. I have stood firm against open enrollment and believe in fully funding public education. </p><p><b>Ethics were a hot topic in the General Assembly this year. What will you do to ensure your constituents remain your top priority as an elected official and retain transparency in your office?</b></p><p>Ethics, honesty and integrity have always been my priority and I believe that I owe this to the people. I invite anyone to review my campaign finance reports and feel confident that you will see that I have the voters at heart, not special interest or individuals with personal agendas. The ethics bill passed this last session was weak and was controlled by selected lawmakers showing that “pay-to-play” still exists in Jefferson City and that’s unfortunate.</p><p><b>What did Senator Matt Bartle accomplish that you were in favor of and what business do you feel is left undone in the Eighth District?</b></p><p>Senator Bartle represented the Eighth District with integrity and honesty and was influential in helping to pass key legislation in the senate to benefit Missourians. Many challenges are ahead due to the economy and unstable employment environment. </p><p>The next senator must work tirelessly with all local leaders to rebuild the local economy, combat illegal immigration, work on healthcare issues and ensure the stability of the citizens of Eastern Jackson County.</p><p><b>Will Kraus</b></p><p><b>Why are you seeking this position?</b></p><p>I am running for the state senate because we need a genuine conservative that represents our values and not special interests. Shortly after I was sworn in as state representative, I saw first-hand how special interests can control the Capitol. It has only gotten worse after the removal of campaign limits. Now a politician can get $10,000 checks. Pandering to special interests does not benefit the people, and I have stood firm against special interests. </p><p><b>What in your opinion are the most important issues facing Blue Springs and rest of your district?</b></p><p>The single most important issue is to improve our economy. First we must not raise taxes. Second, we need to continue to attract new jobs by creating innovative packages like the proposal for Kokam, which costs the state nothing unless the company invests millions of dollars in infrastructure and provides jobs that both pay above county average wage and offer health insurance.</p><p><b>If elected, what are your plans to address those issues?</b></p><p>I would fight any tax increase or fee increase to small businesses. Running a business is hard enough without the government always coming after more money. As long as I am in the Senate, I will fight for businesses to keep more of their own capital so they can invest it in infrastructure and put Eastern Jackson County back to work. </p><p><b>What will you do to help Blue Springs attract and retain businesses?</b></p><p>I will work with the Economic Development Committees and the cities to craft legislation that will give them tools to compete with other states and cities. </p><p><b>Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs are home to some of the best schools in the state, yet the recent cuts in state funding are requiring them to have serious discussions regarding the elimination of programs. What will you do to ensure education remains the top priority at the state level?</b></p><p>Education will be one of my top priorities and I will support legislation that effectively and efficiently improves school performance. We must make education a priority in the budget. In order to help fund education, we must reform tax credits. Last year Missouri lost hundreds of millions in revenue to tax credits. I do not believe all tax credits are bad, but we must identify the tax credits that are not performing as we expected and eliminate them. </p><p><b>Ethics were a hot topic in the General Assembly this year. What will you do to ensure your constituents remain your top priority as an elected official and retain transparency in your office?</b></p><p>Service to constituents has always been of utmost priority in my office and I will continue my open door policy. I will always return e-mails and phone calls in a timely manner and meet with constituents one on one as needed. </p><p>I will also continue my six year tradition of holding a town hall meeting every spring break to explain what is happening in the Capitol and to open the floor up for discussion. I will continue District Day when I invite constituents to visit the Capitol and personally spend time with them to answer questions. I will continue my tradition of publishing an electronic newsletter with news from the Capitol and mailing out brochures with information about government programs or legislative actions.</p><p><b>What did Senator Matt Bartle accomplish that you were in favor of and what business do you feel is left undone in the Eighth District?</b></p><p>I believe Senator Bartle held firm to his conservative principles and did not let special interests impact his voting record. The business of the state of Missouri goes on. Next year we will face a state budget that is close to a billion dollars out of balance. </p><p>We need real leadership to pass a budget that does not rely on one-time spending money. We need to make the tough choices that the people of Missouri sent us to make. My first spending priority is education. We also need to pass a real ethics bill that addresses transparency and makes government open and honest.</p><p>Finally, we need to put Missourians back to work. We need to pass legislation that attracts and keeps good-paying jobs here and that keeps us from falling behind other states.</p><p><b>Bryan Pratt</b></p><p><b>Why are you seeking this position?</b></p><p>I am seeking this position to serve the community where I grew up – and where my children will grow up. I will use every ounce of my leadership to ensure our community remains a great place to work and raise a family. I want my children to have the same great schools and the same great opportunities I had growing up in our community.</p><p><b>What in your opinion are the most important issues facing Blue Springs and rest of your district?</b></p><p>The most important issues facing our community are maintaining great public schools, keeping good jobs with benefits in our community and bringing new jobs to our community, cutting taxes, the federal deficit, our growing immigration problem and the over-reaching federal government.</p><p><b>If elected, what are your plans to address those issues?</b></p><p>For keeping great schools and job growth, please see my answers below. </p><p>One of the greatest issues facing our country is deficit spending. We are borrowing from China and mortgaging our future. We must balance the budget without tax increases. </p><p>The federal government has failed to address our growing immigration problems – we should strictly punish folks who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and prohibit welfare payments to illegal immigrants.</p><p><b>What will you do to help Blue Springs attract and retain businesses?</b></p><p>The best economic development policy is to create incentives available for all businesses – not just a chosen few businesses. </p><p>By cutting business taxes for all businesses, we can help every single business in the state keep jobs and possibly add new jobs. I will also fight to ensure a fair share of Missouri’s economic development dollars are spent in our community to keep and attract new jobs.</p><p><b>Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs are home to some of the best schools in the state, yet the recent cuts in state funding are requiring them to have serious discussions regarding the elimination of programs. What will you do to ensure education remains the top priority at the state level?</b></p><p>I will continue to fight for full funding of the education formula, and will cut any other state program to achieve full funding for education. </p><p>I led the fight against the open enrollment bill in Jefferson City – this bill would have flooded our great schools with folks who live outside our community. </p><p>I will also continue my fight to increase teacher salaries and fully fund the career ladder program.</p><p><b>Ethics were a hot topic in the General Assembly this year. What will you do to ensure your constituents remain your top priority as an elected official and retain transparency in your office?</b></p><p>Liberals in Jefferson City tried to kill ethics reform this session by signing a discharge petition. Despite these efforts, I fought to pass a very comprehensive ethics reform bill. </p><p>However, many of these proposals died in the senate. </p><p>I will continue my fight to pass a bill requiring voters to show picture identification, a bill to end political patronage, and a bill to create greater transparency in elections.</p><p><b>What did Senator Matt Bartle accomplish that you were in favor of and what business do you feel is left undone in the Eighth District?</b></p><p>I always appreciated Senator Bartle’s principled leadership – he was always a strong voice for his convictions. </p><p>Senator Bartle was never afraid to fight special interests, and he was able to use his influence to improve our community. </p><p>As a conservative, I will continue fighting for great schools, jobs with benefits, less taxes, balanced budgets, protecting our borders and making our community safer.