Interview with John Martin, Republican candidate for the 47th Missouri House District

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Political newcomer John Martin is hoping to keep the 47th Missouri House District red, despite some big changes to the district boundaries.

Martin, a Republican, faces Democrat Adrian Plank in the November election for the seat once held by the term-limited Chuck Basye, also a Republican. The district boundaries have changed since this election and last, cutting out some reliably Republican areas in counties outside Boone and adding part of Columbia to the district.

Martin, a small business owner, emphasizes his support for law enforcement and his opposition to abortion in his campaign.

Marissa Hollowed: Tell viewers a little about yourself.

John Martin: I'm John Martin, I'm a small business owner. My company is Pro Pumping and Hydrojetting. We're a local popular company that does dirty jobs. We rescued a lot of people with pumping septic tanks on Christmas Eve, things like that. So we enjoy that.

I'm also a former pastor. I'm a father, husband, ... we have four children, three have graduated from Hickman, one is a sixth grader, and I'm a member of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. I'm an investor in REDI, Regional Economic Development. And I'm a baseball coach at Daniel Boone Little League. So I enjoy that. And also a volunteer with a 4-H, do a lot of work with agriculture.

Hollowed: Your campaign focuses a lot on public safety. So what can you do to make our community safer if you're elected?

Martin: One thing we need to make sure that we do not defund our public safety agencies, obviously, with you know, Highway Patrol, obviously local police, and that is all one big picture we have, we have safe communities, that we have people that want to ... move here, job opportunities that are good schools, things like that, that all works together. Very, very important.

Hollowed: What's your position on abortion?

Martin: I'm a pro-life candidate ... very much a pro-life candidate. And think that's an important position. I think of stories, for example, like a Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow, his mother, when she was pregnant, she was pregnant with him, the doctor said ... 'there's some complications there. You may consider an abortion.' She said, 'No, we're not going to do that,' brought the baby to term. Now we have Tim Tebow.

Hollowed: Do you support Gov. Parson's new tax cuts that were just passed?

Martin: Yes. Yes, I do. Yeah, that's an example of where I believe that government that we need to have a limited government. And when there's excess funds, those are the people's money. That's the people's money ... to return that to them is a great economic principle.

Hollowed: How do you think this will affect the race this time around?

Martin: I think it's a great opportunity for Republicans, No. 1, for some of the new area in Columbia, it's a great opportunity for us to contrast our views on the economy. For example, we get into new areas and talk about Republicans' idea of job growth and strong economy. We have a new area in Sturgeon. So there's ... we have the agriculture community. So I think it's a great opportunity for me to contrast how as Republicans we want to see personal responsibility, lower taxes, we want to see job growth, we want to see our state move forward with not lots of regulations.

I think the Democrats are really struggling right now, because they've got a President Biden, chose to cut off our oil reserves, our oil drilling. So gas prices are through the roof. Inflation is through the roof. And so I think the Democratic Party is in a lot of confusion right now. And the Republicans have the principles of limited government, personal responsibility, job growth, strong education, we've got to support ... our public schools so that they teach kids, and those kids come out trained, ready ... for good jobs, and good workforce development. So those are all principles that Republicans are pushing, which will help our economy, help our community.

Hollowed: What else should viewers know?

Martin: I support the Second Amendment, that's important ... our Second Amendment rights from the Constitution. My agricultural background ... the district includes Sturgeon, Harrisburg, a lot of great farmland and northwest Boone County. And so I support private property rights. We've got to get broadband expansion for our, more rural families. And so those are some agriculture ... emphasis ... a background that I can bring to the table.