Senate District 6 candidate interview: Lisa Thomas
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Psychiatrist and former member of the Missouri House of Representatives, Lisa Thomas, wants to return to the Capitol Building in January.
She believes her experience serving from 2021 to 2025 and her background in health will help get important issues addressed in the Senate for Mid-Missourians.
Thomas is one of the six candidates seeking the Senate District 6 seat after Sen. Mike Bernskoetter’s term is up in January 2027. The state senate district covers several Mid-Missouri counties, including Cole, Camden, Miller, Moniteau and Morgan.
Thomas’ opponents are Amber Buckles, Derrick Spicer, Todd “Ike” Skelton, Rudy Veit and Jake Vogel.
HALEY SWAINO: What would you like voters to know about you as a person and also as a candidate?
LISA THOMAS: Well, sure. I'm a lifelong Missourian. I'm a Christian constitutional conservative. Republican Trump supporter from the escalator on down. And I am a psychiatrist by training. So, a medical doctor. I'm the only medical doctor running for the Sixth District. And I think that's pretty important since we've got that nonpartisan issue that touches everybody, which is healthcare and mental healthcare. We need affordable, accessible and top-quality healthcare. I'm primed and ready to lead that effort to make sure we have that available for all Missourians.
SWAINO: What do you see as the top issues facing Senate District 6, and also what specific legislation would you maybe introduce or support to address those issues?
THOMAS: Well, definitely the issue of affordability, just in general, and our taxing structure, our spending problem. I guess first and foremost, the legislature absolutely has a spending problem. Because we need to get that under control with our priorities and also clawing back waste, fraud and abuse, which will swell our coffers. Then we can look at taxing structures and making the cuts that we need to make because we just can't fund every program. But we do not want to leave vulnerable individuals without services. So we have to be smart about how we spend the dollars that we have. Just like all families have to watch their pocketbook, and they make choices. So the legislature and the government needs to do the same thing. We can't do everything. We need to make the right choices.
SWAINO: That leads well into my next question. How will you balance economic growth in the Show-Me State while also preserving the quality of life for people living in communities?
THOMAS: Well, we need to make Missouri what it already is — the Show-Me State. And it should be attractive to all. We are the best state in our union by far, so that being said, we have to have policies that encourage business to come here and the businesses that are here to stay here. We want to incentivize families to not only stay here, but when their children graduate from school or other relatives are looking at places to go, that they come and stay here because we want to be strong, but we need to maintain the folks that we have and be proud of Missouri.
Our policies, too, as I said, help not drain resources either from businesses or from families. So we don't want to overtax. I stood against the pressures that were trying to get us to vote for the gas tax. And I said, no, that's going to harm families. I will be voting no on Amendment 5 because, again, that's shifting our burden to, to the lower income, and also to working families and those on fixed incomes. Like I said, get our budget and our spending under control before we do policy testing, policy changes. And we also want to know what are the details. As a Republican, I definitely prefer reduction or elimination of any and all taxes. But we're the Show-Me State, show me the plan. And in Amendment 5, that plan is missing in action.
SWAINO: How would you work with legislators from both parties when your constituent interests are at stake?
THOMAS: Well, again, as the only physician in this race, healthcare is a bipartisan issue. It affects everybody. Another issue that I'm passionate about is boating and water safety. A life jacket doesn't care what party you belong to, but it's going to save your life, doesn't care what your gender is. It doesn't care who you voted for or what church you belong to. But again, it's something that we should get behind. And there's a variety of boating and water safety topics. But again, they touch everybody. So, for one thing, as I said, I want to work across the aisle because these things affect everybody, and we don't need to constantly divide. Diversity is not a bad word. We can come together. There's more that unites us than divides us. And I would like to be that person. As a physician, I treat everybody. As a legislator, everybody that's in my district is my constituent. The entire state is my constituent. And I would like to be in the Senate to represent that and to move us forward.
SWAINO: How will you stay accountable to the people of District 6, if elected? And how can constituents expect to communicate with you throughout the term?
THOMAS: Obviously, through my office, having been in the state House before, you know, you have to have a staff, you have phones, you have email, text. I give out my number. I don't mind being interrupted seven days a week whenever I'm out and about with people. Matter of fact, the most important part of the job is constituent services. Because we're hired by the people to represent them. Legislating is much less important. And so staying in touch, we have all sorts of new technology. But you know, the old tried and true conversation. There you go. And like I said, happy to talk to anybody, anywhere, any time. That's what it's all about.
SWAINO: I asked this question to everybody, and it's a bit broad, and also, of course, things at the federal level have to work out. But what should Missouri do to help address the rising cost of living?
THOMAS: Well, again, I was against the gas tax. We have some options of rolling that back, whether that's temporary or permanent. Voting against Amendment 5, because I am concerned that that will be a tax shift from the wealthy to those of lesser means. Again, with no guardrails, getting rid of the Hancock Amendment. So the protections that should be there. That's scary. Go back to the drawing board, work on that plan again. Get our spending under control. Like you said, reduce, eliminate and claw back the waste fraud and abuse. We don't want to be Minnesota or California. But you know what? This state has waste, fraud and abuse. To bring that back under control, it's going to swell our coffers. There's a number of other things we can do, but that would be the first to start with.
SWAINO: Why are you the best candidate for this seat?
THOMAS: Well, again, I'm the only physician, so I understand healthcare, health, mental health and social services. That constitutes an enormous part of our annual state budget. I've had boots on the ground experience, so I don't just say we need to lower healthcare costs. That's a big duh. What I can do is tell you we can do this, this and this today, and we can absolutely impact our costs. We need to negotiate a reasonable tort reform that's going to lower individual and government healthcare costs tomorrow. We have a group of providers, the only ones by statute; we can tell them where to practice, and guess where that is? Rural and underserved communities. Bingo. That's what we need to do. We need to be the welcoming state for that group of practitioners. Bring them in. Get them to work. We need to make sure that we have pricing transparency on drugs so that we can have the lowest cost. We need PBMs [pharmacy benefit managers] to be clear about what they're doing. We need to protect the doctor-patient relationship. Government shouldn't be interfering. You and your doctor should make decisions about your own healthcare and not be told you have to do this or that. That's going to help. I can go on and on for the rest of the day if you'd like.
SWAINO: My next question here, you know, nearing the end of the campaign here in just a couple of weeks. What may be something in candidate forums or just throughout the campaigning that you haven't been asked that you want people to know about you? It could be an issue you're passionate about, something about yourself.
THOMAS: That's a question, you’re right, I haven't been asked. I haven't even thought about that. I think maybe why I love Missouri so much. I was born and raised here. As I said, we're often referred to as flyover country. And at a certain level, I'm okay with that because we don't necessarily want everyone moving here, but we want to be the best state, which we already are. And we don't have to tell everyone. We have the most beautiful geography. We have every opportunity you could possibly want. We do have great schools, and we're willing to work in the areas where we do have problems. We admit that we're not perfect. And to me, that's critical. We are where people that work hard, we play hard, we love our neighbors, we do the right thing. We basically follow the golden rule. And I'd like to think we're a shining example of what a community and a state should be. And I want to protect that and move it forward.
SWAINO: Last question here. If you want to talk directly to voters, if there are some people who are maybe still on the fence, they're not sure where they want to cast their vote. What's your final message to them as a friend?
THOMAS: Well, again, please vote for Dr. Lisa Thomas. I am a psychiatrist. I understand health, healthcare, mental healthcare, social services. Again, I am a champion for boating and water safety. I will protect your liberties and your God-given rights. I've been a legislator, so I bring that understanding to the Capitol so we can get ready and right down to business day one. I don't have to learn the system, and I am passionate about just making sure that everybody has a voice and that we move Missouri forward. And I would very much appreciate your support. Thank you very much.
