Interview with John Martin, candidate for Missouri’s 44th House District

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

John Martin, owner of a small Columbia business, Pro Pumping & Hydrojetting LLC, is a Republican looking to represent Missouri’s 44th House District. Martin is a former pastor who has served on the Republican Central Committee of Boone County. After defeating Bryce Beal in the primary election with 2,755 votes to Beal's 1,744, Martin is set to square off with Dave Raithel in November. The 44th District encompasses most of southern and eastern Boone County outside Columbia.

Mitchell Kaminski: Well, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us again. First off, how is the campaign to this point and what type of stuff have you guys been doing to get out into the community?

John Martin: Yeah, Thank you for our opportunity. The campaigns have been going very well.  Obviously, a busy primary season, and then the last two months gearing up for the general election. And so really focusing right now, just there are so many fall festivals and church events and school events, things like that. And so I met a lot of people in the summer at the fairs and going, we did a lot of canvassing in the summer and so then going back to those festivals is kind of, in a sense, reacquainting yourself with people and getting to know them. We're going to be doing several big Saturday pushes in October, kind of remind people and let them know again, "Hey, listen, general election coming up, vote for Martin District 44."

Kaminski: I'm curious because you did mention the primaries there. Do you feel like it was an advantage or disadvantage because your opponent didn't really have to go through the rigors of the primary cycle and you had a pretty tight race yourself? Or maybe did it help because you were able to get your name out there a little bit more? 

Martin: Honestly think having a primary after going through it actually is, I think is an advantage because you're out there earlier. You know, I'm saying May, June, July, getting ready for that August primary,  getting your name out there, talking to people. And so I think that lays a lot of good groundwork, especially for signage as well. I've been blessed with a lot of good sign locations. And so getting those signs out there, meeting people, going to events early kind of sets a good groundwork, I think, then for that. You know, the general election coming up in the fall. 

Kaminski: Last time we spoke, I asked you what you thought the biggest issue facing the district was. When getting out and talking to people what are you hearing from them? What do you feel like generally speaking, people think the biggest issue is and do you think that kind of aligns with what you thought? 

Martin: I found that working in the primary and now as well just the biggest issues I go door to door just people ... the economy and just the challenges of putting food on the table. High gas prices, high insurance prices, things like that. Everything has just gone up. And so just the average person being able to child care costs, things like that, all those things, fuel prices, just the average person being able to make ends meet and the need for. And honestly, when I go door to door and talk with people, just the need for ... tax breaks and some tax reduction, whether it be income tax, property tax, things like that. So those are honestly, that's the top of the mind issue of people in the 44th. And that's I think that's pretty common nationwide really. The economy is in a tough spot. 

Kaminski: I know you mentioned tax breaks,  but like is there any specifics that you would like to see done if you were elected to help kind of alleviate some of those financial stress? 

Martin: As a small business owner with  Pro Pumping & Hydrojetting, I'm more of a limited government-type person. I think carries more importance than personal responsibility. So honestly, I'd like to see the state government really focus on the priorities of education, infrastructure and law and order.  And then honestly, I'd like to work on reducing the state income tax from the standpoint of, you know, putting money, more money back in people's pockets, seeing their weekly paycheck be a little bit bigger. I definitely think there's areas in state government, even though we can focus on these priorities, I think there's other areas that we can definitely trim and still focus on that, on these priorities, but trim things and get money back in people's pockets through some of those types of reductions. 

Kaminski: Safety and infrastructure are also something that we've heard a lot about. We'll start with public safety. What is it, specific policies would you like to enact or to try to enact? Or is there anything you think that law enforcement or some of these cities in your district could be doing differently to help keep the public safe?

Martin: One thing I want to really look at is, for example, the topic of minimum sentencing, making sure that our current state law undergirds and supports our law enforcement. So when there's criminal behavior that person is not just put back on the street unnecessarily, way too quick. And so I see that. And something else, you know, hear door to door is, there'll be criminal activity and then you realize that person's already been arrested six, seven times and they're back out, you know, causing harm again. So I definitely want to look into that. If there are things that can be done within state law to help, if those people need to be behind bars longer, let's do that. 

Kaminski: Specifically with infrastructure, what are some of the areas that you think the 44th could improve upon or something you would like to see?

Martin: I would be more focused on roads. I know there's lots of internet and things like that, you know, as far as going in. But I would be mostly focused on making sure that the tax dollars that are coming in,  whether it be through the road taxes, our fuels tax as well or just, our income taxes that are going towards MoDOT that they are used efficiently and that if they, if they need additional resources for paying their engineers for road planning or just getting the job done and getting these potholes, fix things like that. Obviously, you know, the 44th has a lot of rural roads, strong agriculture areas. So some of the state highways that are up and down ... the 44th from Centralia all the way down to Hartsburg,  you know, making sure that those roads are being fixed in a timely fashion. My company Pro Pumping, we've got five big pump trucks that go up and down the roads every day. A lot of challenges there. And whether it be hauling grain from the farmers, just local business infrastructure, making sure our bridges are safe, that's that's a key thing. And it's obviously key for our economy as well. Not only people, you know, not only public safety, but our economy being able to move crops and, you know, goods to the stores is vital. 

Kaminski: Moving into more specifics that have been occurring recently in the state, I want to start with the Southern Boone School District because they have been in the news a little bit because they had a couple of students arrested over threats made. Being that that is in your district, is there anything with schools you think they should be doing as far as school safety goes that they maybe aren't doing? What are your thoughts on the school safety aspect for schools in your district? 

Martin: Yeah, that's been obviously a huge concern in Ashland, a very unfortunate event obviously, where we have to close the schools, gets wave of fear amongst the families and the kids, things like that. So it creates a lot of instability. I think it's just very important for the schools, obviously, to have a good plan and to communicate that well to their parents. Obviously, they're concerned. 

Again, I would go back to my earlier comments. If there are certain laws or things like that that can be passed or need to be tweaked to help law enforcement help our schools, things like that, to make sure that threats are taken care of. I know it's always an ongoing process, but I think we definitely want to have that safety and have the schools the tools they need and then also the good communication and make sure that those situations are handled. Thankfully, in Ashland there was concerns there and, there was a tragedy, that was avoided potentially, thankfully, that there was some things found out and then those situations taken care of. 

Kaminski: Other big issues on the ballot, first with Amendment 2, as far as sports betting coming in the state I’m curious where you lie with sports betting in general? There's been some that have said this amendment, while we would like sports betting we don’t think it’s going to benefit the state as much as they say. So I guess it's a two-pronged question: How do you feel about sports betting coming into Missouri and specifically with Amendment 2, where do you stand on that? 

Martin: Yeah, my focus there is that just with my faith and Christian faith. I'm not someone that supports gambling. I just don't think it's a wise thing. I think to a state that has that type of activity, I think it encourages a lot of illegal activity and kind of some nefarious type activity surrounding that. I think it's more important for people to use their income to go to the store to buy their groceries and get their gas and work on their job, you know, as far as job growth and things like that, I'm very leery about when you have those type of programs, whether long term they're going to really do what they say they're going to do. 

And so I'm generally opposed to that. I really am. I'm afraid that the addictions that come from that and people just being able to really quickly start gambling and then again, I think that generally hurts families. And as a former pastor, I would see families that would be very much affected by those types of addictions. You know, again, nothing against sports and things like that. But I think when you're adding that gambling in there, I don't think it's necessary. 

Kaminski: Moving on to Amendment 3, and I know last time we talked, you made your position pretty clear on the abortion issue, so I won't make you rehash that. But specifically with how that got on the ballot with initiative petitions because that’s been kind of some talk that I’ve heard from lawmakers. How do you feel about initiative petitions? I know some lawmakers have been saying it should be more of a majority throughout the districts, five of the eight, to get that on the ballot.  How do you feel about the issue of petitions? 

Martin: I wish honestly that our legislature would have been able to get that passed. I know it's stalled in the state Senate. So I really think it should be a higher threshold. I think that your elected officials,  state representatives, things like that, you know, as far as pass laws. But then it's constantly there's a concern, every two to four years, there's another initiative, petition that's coming around a lot of times just to skirt what the legislators have been working on for a long time. So I think the threshold should be higher, really should. There are a lot of things that are being passed that are literally being put in our Constitution. I don't think that needs to be in a constitution that should be a guiding document when you have all these real specific details that you're coming around to the people you know, asking for every single time.

Kaminski: We have had a few people email in with concerns and I’d like to allow you to respond to some of those. Specifically, we've heard that people claim that you're not living in the district that you're running for. 

]Martin: Yeah. My primary residence is in the 44th. I mean it's no secret that I own some property in another district. But, you know, my primary is in the 44th and I've registered with the secretary of state, the Boone County clerk and I've got all my you know, as far as all my paperwork is taken care of there to be a resident of the 44th. 

Kaminski: Finally is there anything you would like to tell the voters that you think would be important for them to know that we might not have touched on?

Martin:  I'm just thankful for the opportunity to represent the 44th. I'm from Centralia, my wife's from Hallsville. So these are the areas of my roots. I'm a Boone County native. I've been here my whole life. So as a business owner, I'm blessed to know lots of people, you know, in the county with my business and serving people with my my service company and then as a pastor have a lot of, you know, work with churches in Hallsville and Columbia as well. I think, some qualities, some leadership qualities, some proven leadership, some maturity there, whether it be in business or in leadership with church work. I'm a member of regional economic development. So I want to see our in our area grow economically. I've had three kids graduate from the University of Missouri. That's a very important part of our local economy you know, the importance of the University of Missouri.

So I want to see support for that in our schools. And so those are, you know, some key parts of who I am. I look forward to leading and representing the 44th.