Missouri Third Congressional District candidate interview: Tommy Holstein

ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates heading into the Aug. 4 election. On the Democratic ticket for the Missouri Third Congressional seat are Bethany Mann and Tommy Holstein. The winner of the primary race will face either Republican John Fraser or incumbent Bob Onder. ABC 17 News reporter Mitchell Kaminski interviewed Holstein ahead of the election. Read the transcript of the interview below.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

Mitchell Kaminski: For starters, do you mind just walking me through why you wanted to run for this seat? 

Tommy Holstein: I never anticipated getting into politics. This is never something that I even considered doing until everything started happening this year. At the beginning of the year, in January, I was at a leadership retreat that I was serving as a small group facilitator at that retreat, and the tagline for, or the mission statement, rather, for that organization is to co-create a just, caring, and thriving world. 

And while I was at this retreat, Renee Good was killed and I was states away doing really fulfilling and important work and work that I thought was making the world a better place and being there while having this juxtaposition with, like, what's happening in the world while we're doing that work there ... that kind of broke something in me.

It made me feel like I wasn't doing enough. I couldn't just look at what was happening around me in the world and in the country and just speak on it. I realized that I needed to take some sort of action.  And that started with me attending my first protest. I started trying to organize protest groups, looking at different ways that I can get involved politically, just locally in the area. 

Then, not too long later, Alex Pretti was killed. And when that happened, I kind of kicked it into high gear, and I realized I have to do everything I can right now because everything in me is pulling me towards that in some way.  And I thought, ‘Okay, what is the biggest impact that I can make right now? Or what space do I need to be in in order to make the biggest impact that I can?’ And Congress seemed to be that.  

And I called a friend who owns a political consulting firm, and I asked kind of what this would take if I were to do this. And he kind of told me what a campaign would look like, what the next several months would be if I decide to do it. And he said,  ‘Tommy, I'm going to flag this for you now, though the deadline to file is in less than 48 hours. So if you want to run this cycle, you'd better decide fast.’ 

And as soon as he said that, I saw this potential future of we just needed one more seat to be flipped and then this would have been different, or this would have passed, or these people would have been saved, or something. And I saw that potential, and I realized,  I couldn't forgive myself if I had this opportunity and then didn't decide to jump, and those things come to pass. I couldn't live with that. And so I decided to just take a chance and make the leap. 

Kaminski: So, seeing that this is the first time you've run a major campaign like this, how has it been going so far? Is there been any challenges that have popped up, or overall, how do you think it's gone? 

Holstein: Mitchell, it has been positive in a way that I couldn't have ever imagined. The response is overwhelming. Everywhere I go, every room I walk into, people are recognizing me and coming up to me and saying hi or sharing part of their story or thanking me for running. And it honestly it is so incredibly humbling, but also rewarding and fulfilling. I  cannot believe the level at which we're operating now in just such a short amount of time. The number of people that have just stepped up and decided to kind of make this campaign their own and are contributing and volunteering in whatever ways they can and whatever skills they have, they're donating to this campaign through social media and showing up places in person and knocking on doors. We've been able to find our people very quickly and find people that are just excited to change something and to be a part of something that leads to a better country for all of us.

Kaminski: As you've gone around talking to people, what would you say is the biggest issue facing the Third District right now that you would like to see change, or the biggest priority for you if you were to get elected? 

Holstein: I think nationwide, we're seeing the cost of living is just through the roof. And even, we're in Missouri, and we live in a state that historically we have a very good cost of living. But everybody is struggling right now with everything. It's impossible to do anything when you are paycheck to paycheck and barely making ends meet. How do you enjoy your hobbies or spend time with friends and family when you can't afford to keep the lights on, or you can't afford to get all the groceries that you would need that week? It's hard to do that. And so cost of living is a huge one. And I think also, just like the corruption that people are seeing in Washington these days, blatant and in our faces, and it's almost insulting. It's insulting to our intelligence. It's insulting to the people of this country. So, yeah, I think corruption, but especially just the cost of living and people trying to make ends meet today is tough. 

Kaminski: That kind of leads me into my next question. The incumbent Rep. Bob Onder had previously received an endorsement from President Trump. It's also been a red district the last two election cycles. Not to get too far ahead, but if you were to make it past the primary, how confident are you that you could flip this district back blue? 

Holstein: I'm really, really confident. When I talk to people, I try not to lead with what party I represent. I do my best to lead with my values and what I believe in and the things that I will fight for.  And I'm finding that as I do that, no matter who I talk to, they are able to be bought in. 

Especially if, let's say, I'm talking to a traditionally Republican voter, a lot of them will be like, they'll stop me and be like, 'actually, are you a Democrat or a Republican?' And they struggle to know because I think a lot of people want the same things everybody does. Everybody wants the same things.

We want health and safety, and we want food on the table, and we want to have a good job and to be able to spend time with our friends and our family. We are all a lot more similar than we think. I think a big mistake that a lot of, let's say establishment Democrats will make a lot of a big mistake that a lot of them that I see a lot of them making is to demonize the other side. 

This isn't just on the left, it's on both sides. But they demonize the other side, and if we want to pull voters over to vote blue this year, we're not going to do that by talking down to them or, honestly, even bashing Trump is not a great idea. Especially if somebody voted for Donald Trump, if you bash him as a person, a lot of people can take that as a personal attack. Their identity is tied up in that. 

We have to help people get to where we need them to be. We have to be able to communicate across both sides of the aisle. We have to be able to talk to anybody, no matter what party they represent.  And I think that I, as someone who's grown up in a red state and in a red family, I have been able to have those conversations, and I've learned how to navigate them successfully. 

So far, I've been very successful. Even on social media, I've seen several comments that are like, ‘wait a minute, I think I just agreed with a liberal.’ I never see that anywhere, and I'm amazed that I'm seeing it on our posts. But I think it's because we treat everybody like they matter, whether they're left or right. 

Kaminski: So, for someone hearing the name Tommy Holstein for the first time, how would you describe your platform to a voter that's maybe never heard of you before? 

Holstein: I am sick of watching our government cater to the rich, the billionaires, the extremely, extremely wealthy in this country. That's who I'm watching them serve. I'm not watching them serve the people of the state or this country.  Everyone I talk to, that is how they feel, too. They feel like we are not, we are no longer the priority. So I describe myself as somebody who is for the people. My platform, I want to pass Medicare for all. I want to invest in public education in our youth. I want to regulate AI and big tech and corruption in our politics. And so I think at the end of the day, what this campaign is, is a campaign that is focused on returning power to the working people of the state in this country. 

Kaminski: There's also a couple of big ballot initiatives in this election cycle. I saw on your page that specifically, Amendment 4 and Amendment 5 are two things that you feel could be detrimental to Missouri. You mind just walking me through why you're against both of those amendments? 

Holstein: I'll start with Amendment 5. If Amendment 5 were to pass, then we would no longer have a state income tax, but our sales tax would increase across the board. It would allow the state to increase sales tax kind of whenever they want without asking. And at the end of the day, the people that are going to be hurt from it, if Amendment 5 were to pass, the people that will be hurt are the working people or the everyday people in Missouri. The extremely wealthy, they are not going to be affected by this. In fact, I think we just shared, so the top 1% would see a 2% decrease in their taxes.  Amendment 5 will increase costs across the board for working families. 

Amendment 4 will completely take power away from the people of Missouri. It would if Amendment 4 were to pass, then it would require, instead of a majority in the entire state, it would require a majority in each of the congressional districts for a ballot initiative to be passed. And that would make it extremely, extremely hard to get much of anything done ever again, at least on our level, for the people's ballot initiative. So I'm a strong no on 4, a strong no on 5. I think that there's a lot of people who are putting in a lot of really good work to make sure that people are well-educated on these amendments. 

Kaminski: Finally, I'll leave the floor open to you. Is there anything you would like to add that you think would be important for people to know that we might not have touched on? 

Holstein: For the longest time, people have looked at this district in the state as we're a red state, right? I've had people scoff when they hear that I'm a Democrat running in District 3. But I think for anyone that's actually living in this district, if you're talking to the everyday people or to your average, everyday person, you can feel that things are changing. You can feel that there's something in the air, and especially young people, they are fed up. Everyone is fed up that young people are looking at this country, they're looking around us, and they're not accepting it. I think we have an opportunity right now to make some really good, really positive changes in this country. This is bigger than just Missouri District 3. This is nationwide. I think that this is the time for young people to stand up and make their voices heard in a way that we've never seen before. And I hope they do. 

Kaminski: Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. 

Holstein: Thank you, Mitchell.