Martin, Raithel prepare for final push in Missouri’s 44th District race

Editors note: The vote totals from the primary election have been corrected

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

In less than a month, voters from Missouri’s 44th House District will decide between a Columbia business owner and former Army veteran to represent them in the state legislature.

Republican John Martin will face off against Democrat David Raithel to see who will be the voice of the nearly 38,000 people in the district, which covers parts of Ashland, Centralia, Hartsburg and Hallsville. 

The 44th District seat was held by Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch (R-Hallsville), who could not run again because of term limits.

After a primary against Bryce Beal, which Martin won by 1,011 votes, the Republican has spent the past two months gearing up for the general election. This has included canvasing over the summer, scheduling appearances at fall festivals and attending local church and school events. Martin said he also has several big “Saturday pushes” in October to remind people to get out and vote. He also believes that his work during the primaries gives him an advantage over Raithel, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. 

“I think having a primary, you know, 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," Martin said. "And so I think that, you know, lays a lot you know, a lot of good groundwork, especially for signage as well.” 

Raithel is not feeling as confident. He says that he has done more mailing than he did when he ran for the seat in 2022, but he hasn’t been able to knock on as many doors as he would have liked to this point. 

“It's not gone as smoothly as I might have hoped," Raithel said. "I  can't say that all the things I wanted to fall in place fell into place. Nevertheless, I'm resolute. I'm going to do this to the end. Pretty much broke.  But, you know, I've got enough to limp out of. I'm going to benefit from some coordinated campaign work. I was able to loan the campaign $10,000, and I've raised a little bit more than that in addition. So,  you know, I've got more money to use than I had last time. 

What they're hearing from voters

After speaking with voters, Martin believes the biggest issue people are facing is the economy. 

“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,” Martin said. “When I go door to door and talk with people, just the need for some tax breaks and some tax reduction, whether it be income tax, property tax, things like that.” 

When asked for specific measures he would like to implement to alleviate some of those costs, Martin said he would like to see small government focusing its energy on infrastructure and reducing crime. 

“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, you know, be a little bit bigger,” Martin said. “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.” 

While Raithel has been out campaigning, he says many of the voters he has spoken with are simply fed up with “political culture.” 

“They're they're fed up with manufactured outrage and hyperbole and brinksmanship and just the dishonesty, that's going [on],” Raithel said. 

Opposing views on sports betting, abortion and initiative petitions

Raithel’s message to voters on the campaign trail has been “If you are voting for Amendment 3 then you’ve got to also vote for me or else you contradict yourself.” 

“When this amendment is passed, and I think it will be, the trap laws, the targeted reproductive access protocols that are on the books would make special rules about facilities providing abortions and special rules about physicians working there, needing privileges at facilities. All those will be on the books through the three-day waiting period,” Raithel said. “Unless they are repealed by the legislature, every one of them will be challenged in court. And then women and families will wind up standing in court for several more years...

"The rational thing to do is if you're going to vote for (Amendment) 3,  you have to have a sufficiently large number of Democrats in the legislature.” 

Martin is against abortion and is hoping that Amendment 3 does not pass. He would also like to see stricter laws for initiative petitions -- which were also used to get legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid on the state ballot. Both were passed despite opposition from a primarily Republican-dominated state legislature. 

“​​I think it should be a higher threshold. I think that you're elected, you know, you're elected officials,  state representatives, things like that, you know, as far as passing laws. But then it's constantly there's a concern, you know, every two-to-four years, there's another initiative petition that's coming around a lot of times just to skirt,  you know, what the legislators have been working on for a long time,” Martin said. 

Raithel takes issue with some of the Republican lawmakers trying to change the threshold because he believes there is a lack of respect for the people they represent. 

“I have been opposed to their efforts to change that from the first time they started talking about it.  Their whole complaint is grounded on the bad faith that they did not respect the decisions of the voters, to begin with,” Raithel said. “Rather than respect that tradition,  we're going to change the rules when the other side gets what we don't want. So if the other side gets choice, or if the other side prohibits right to work,  we're just going to make it harder for people like them to change things rather than admit they might be in the wrong.” 

Amendment 3 is one of several key Amendments on the November ballot. Another is Amendment 2, which would legalize sports gambling in the state. 

Martin is staunchly opposed to both because of his religious beliefs. 

“With my faith and Christian faith, I'm not I'm not someone that supports gambling. I just don't think it's a wise thing. I think it encourages a lot of illegal activity and, you know, kind of some nefarious type activity, surrounding that,” Martin said. “ 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. As far as job growth and things like that, I'm very leery about when you have those types of programs whether long term they're going to really do what they say they're going to do.” 

Raithel said he was leaning toward supporting Amendment 2 but changed his mind because of a lack of information about how much money would go to schools.

“I believe in regulated vices. If you don't regulate them, they're going to go underground or, you know, people going to figure out ways to go around them. On the other hand, I'm probably going to vote [in favor of Amendment] 2 because I don't really understand how much money the school districts are supposed to get.” Raithel said. “Yeah, it sucks,” he later added, “but it's probably the best thing we can get and it can be fixed down the road by regulation. I don't know.  Here's the thing: There have been daycare services that have not been paid the money to do them for almost a year. But let Parson try to regulate an unregulated high fructose corn syrup, THC and the hemp industry can get in there and get that fix really quick.”

School safety

The 44th District includes Ashland, home to the Southern Boone School District. The district received several threats to schools in September which led to four students being arrested. When asked about any potential school safety improvements, Martin said it starts with communication. 

“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.” 

Raithel admitted he did not have a solution for the school threats but says he has spoken with dozens of parents on the campaign trail to try and get a better grasp of what the school districts need. 

“I have bumped into a half-dozen parents in Battle because that also covers the 44th, I cover for school districts since really the Hallsville, Columbia, Southern Boone,” Raithel said. “On one extreme -- and I did put this on my candidate page -- on one extreme there was the parent who said 'I'm glad my kids are done with Columbia Public Schools.' On the other were the parents who say they do OK. 

Martin addresses concerns over living outside the 44th District

ABC 17 News has received several emails expressing concerns that Martin does not live in the 44th district. Martin responded to these claims by saying he owns multiple properties, one of which is within the 44th. 

“I own some property in another district but, 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, as far as all my paperwork taken care of there to be a resident of the 44th.”