Full interview with House District 60 candidate Suzanne Luther

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Suzanne Luther is a Democrat running for Missouri’s 60th House District. She was born and raised in Jefferson City, attended public schools there and graduated from the University of Missouri. Luther taught in public schools for most of her career and served on the Jefferson City Board of Education.

House District 60 covers part of Cole County, including much of Jefferson City. Luther is running against Republican Shane Kampeter.

ELLYSE EDWARDS: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

SUZANNE LUTHER: Sure. I was born and raised here in Jefferson City. I went to school here, graduated here, then went to college and University of Missouri. And after college and marriage, we settled here. And I taught in the public schools for most of that time. And then after retiring, I did some other volunteering, did some business things, and was asked to run on the school board in 2023.

And when I was on the school board, I had a very clear picture of what decisions at the Capitol, how they were impacting our schools. And it was beyond frustrating how some of the people making those decisions had no clue what teachers needed, what was best for students. How school systems worked. And then it wasn't just limited to schools. The decisions being made at the Capitol were impacting negatively my community. And I decided to run for state rep.

EDWARDS: What is the biggest issue facing House District 60 right now, and how would you work to address it?

LUTHER: Right now, I'm basing this, I mean, you can, everybody knows it's obvious, but I've knocked on over 4,000 doors, and the most common answer is affordability. And they don't say it like that. 'Oh, affordability.' What I hear are personal, personal stories about how a hospital visit just threw their whole budget, their whole lifestyle out of whack, how they can't afford groceries, how they're having to choose between paying the rent or utilities. And that's all over this community. And that is consistent.

And that's not just our community. And how we fix that is we first listen, which we have a lot of people running who have been listening, and then when you get to the Capitol, you take what you've heard, and you look for solutions, often with people who may not see the situation the same way you do. But just like in the classroom when you're teaching kids, look, this person may not agree with you, but we have a goal. How can you talk about this? How can you respect that other person's view? And let's come to a solution here, and those solutions, I believe, lie in making sure that we have accessible and affordable childcare, accessible and affordable health care. We have housing that everybody can afford, and we have people at the Capitol who respect decisions that voters make. And don't flip those.

EDWARDS: What are you hearing most often from people who live in the district?

LUTHER: It goes back to those affordability issues that a lot of people, especially knowing that I'm a teacher, are frustrated with what's happening to schools. And even though our schools here we have a we have a good mix here in the 60th, we have we have parochial schools, we have public schools and our community benefits from both of them. But the people here understand that the decisions being made at the Capitol, the millions of dollars that are being taken out of school funding impacts the entire state. And we see what's happening in these rural schools because they're feeling that hit faster than us. But we're feeling the hit, too. And so that's coming up like, let's support our schools. They're foundational.

EDWARDS: What is one specific change you would push for in the Missouri House that you believe would make a difference for District 60 residents?

LUTHER: That's a very good question. There's so many. And this is going to keep rolling while I think, isn't it?

EDWARDS: You're fine, take your time.

LUTHER: Okay.

EDWARDS: Do you want me to restate the question?

LUTHER: I don't think it needs to be restated. There's just there's so many to choose from and I haven't thought about. Yeah, go ahead and restate the ...

EDWARDS: What is one specific change you would push for in the state House that you believe would make a difference for District 60 residents?

SUZANNE LUTHER: Support the school formula, the formula that was created from experts on what do schools need to function properly. That's what that formula, that's how that was created. And so when you pull from that formula, you are immediately pulling the rug out from under our school systems across the state. And that needs to be addressed needs to be addressed yesterday. But that's something that needs to be addressed immediately.

EDWARDS: How would you, forgive me if I already asked you this, I'm making sure I'm hitting all my questions here. How would you make sure the needs of all parts of the district are represented in Jefferson City?

LUTHER: I think listening is the key there. Because just like any district, you're going to have different views, you're going to have different perspectives. And it's up to the representative to to be aware of what the people in this district need and then figure out the best way to act on that.

EDWARDS: What is an issue affecting the district that you think isn't getting enough attention?

LUTHER: I would think that the housing ... To me, there's a difference between attention and action. So if there isn't action following attention, then it's, I don't see that is really attentive. So I think there's a lot of talk about addressing affordability, addressing housing, and I don't see a lot of action backing that up.

EDWARDS: Jefferson City is one of many communities that use Flock cameras for license plate reading technology. What role do you think state lawmakers should play in the debate around their use?

LUTHER: I know they have very strong perspectives on it. And I know there are jobs that it, what I understand from them, is that it is an effective tool. That being said, I think it's something the legislature needs to be attentive to the privacy issues, and we need to find a balance that our district is happy with, not just one side or the other.

EDWARDS: Okay. Proposition A asks voters whether to approve the congressional map passed by the General Assembly in 2025. What is your position on Proposition A and why?

LUTHER: Well, being as I was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, I feel that, this all began with a directive from a president who had a non-democracy-related goal of making sure fewer Democrats won. So this is just one more iteration of that goal. And I feel that our districts need to represent the people that are in them fairly.

EDWARDS: Okay. Amendment 6 would require 80% of each chamber of the General Assembly to send the proposed changevoter-approvedroved initiative laws back to voters. Do you support or oppose Amendment 6 and why?

LUTHER: I support 6 because it goes back to our basic rights as voters, as citizens. And we need to know going into this next year that those rights aren't going to be challenged or squashed. And I think Amendment 6 is all about that.

EDWARDS: Thank you. If you're elected, what do you hope to accomplish for House District 60 by the end of your term?

LUTHER: That's a good question. I don't know specifically what, as I have not been a legislator before, but my goal is to hit the ground running... And I've talked to representatives that I admire and respect, especially their track records. And I want to be attentive to what is already happening at the Capitol and that I can be part of in a constructive way. And then I want to see where I can get started with those concerns that the constituents in this district have already expressed to me. What can I do at the Capitol starting day one to help with affordability, to help with schools, to help with their, their housing?