With the general election about 11 weeks away, the Pettis County Republicans are ready with the opening of their headquarters Monday evening.
A ribbon cutting was hosted Monday to open the Pettis County Republican Headquarters, 1700 West Broadway Boulevard., and local Republican officials were joined by several state and national legislators for the occasion, including U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, Fourth District U.S. Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, and state Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar. Both Blunt and Hartzler are seeking re-election this fall after winning their respective primaries, while Parson is running for lieutenant governor after winning the Republican primary.
All three also toured Edwards FRP Tank & Repair Inc. in Sedalia that afternoon, each talking about the need for more jobs. Blunt repeatedly used the phrase “more jobs, less government,” a phrase that can be found everywhere from his campaign fliers to his campaign bus.
“Federal out-of-control regulators are the biggest obstacle to better jobs today. We have a government that seems to be much more concerned with what we ought to look like 25 years from now as opposed to whether people have good jobs next year,” Blunt told those gathered at the facility. “And if people have better jobs next year the economy will look better 25 years from now than if people have not so good jobs next year. It’s been eight years of wage stagnation, of looking for all kinds of regulations that discourage people from either having jobs, adding jobs or moving people up in jobs. The country’s paying a big price for that and there are real opportunities out there.”
Blunt continued by saying food demand is expected to double in the next 40 years, creating more opportunities for jobs in America for not only the agriculture industry, but other industries that support production and industries that help the employees themselves, such as insurance.
“Sometimes we get wrapped around wanting to have new businesses here and we do, we want new businesses to come to Missouri, we do, but let me tell you where 80 percent of jobs in this state come from — they come from you, small businesses already here,” Parson said. “That’s who creates jobs in this state. It’s always good for us to remember that.”
At the headquarters opening, the trio also told Pettis County Republicans the need to vote Republican from top to bottom in November, regardless of their thoughts of certain candidates, to make sure needed changes happen in Washington and Jefferson City with foreign policy, the “disaster of Obamacare,” and “out-of-control regulators.”
“It’s a really important year and we’ve got a lot at stake at the state level in Jefferson City,” Blunt said. “We’re going to have five new statewide elected officials sworn in on the steps of the state capital in January, none who have ever held the jobs they will hold before. Now what would happen if those five new state officials all had the same view of the future the general assembly does?”
Hartzler said there “are many reasons to get out and fight this year.” Parson said the country and the state are at a crossroads with the Federal government and its “overreach.”
“If you really want to change who we are and I think our core values of our Christian beliefs, our moral values and our love of this state and love of this country, then we all have to stick together and we have to vote from the top of the ticket to the bottom of our ticket for us to be successful to do that,” Parson said. “There is no exceptions. … The alternative in Missouri is there is no alternative, we’ve got one road to go down.”
Other Republican candidates for office also spoke, including state Rep. Dean Dohrman, R-La Monte, Eastern Commissioner Brent Hampy and Dan Houx, candidate for District 54 state representative.
