Republican Senate District 6 candidates push for fiscal responsibility, low taxes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri’s Sixth Senate District has been represented by Republican Mike Bernskoetter since 2019. As his time serving Camden, Cole, Miller and Moniteau counties comes to an end due to term limits, voters have six Republican hopefuls vying to fill the seat.

Seeking the nomination in a crowded GOP primary are candidates Amber Buckles, Derrick Spicer, Todd “Ike” Skelton, Lisa Thomas, Rudy Veit and Jake Vogel.

As voters head to the ballot box, ABC 17 News reached out to each candidate in the race to ask what they see as the top issues facing Senate District 6. Each brought up the importance of balancing the budget and keeping taxes as low as possible.

Presiding Commissioner of Camden County Skelton wants to look at cutting spending.

“That's the very first thing we need to do,” Skelton said. “The lieutenant governor said there are some 3,000 new programs that have been caused by this most recent last few budgets. And I find it interesting as a politician to say that we have a spending problem and then want us to give them the ability to raise our taxes however they want to in Amendment 5. But they don't really talk about cutting spending.”

Amendment 5 is a proposal to phase out the state income tax. Before lawmakers can adjust any taxes, voters will need to decide on the measure. The amendment isn’t backed by a clear plan; instead, it asks voters to trust lawmakers in the 2027 legislative session to create one.

“As a matter of fact, they even just tell you that Amendment 5 is just kind of a revenue-neutral,” Skelton said. “Well, then what are you trying to do? So no, I want to look at cutting spending. We definitely do not need to raise taxes. I would really like to figure out how we could eliminate the personal property tax statewide.”

Rudy Veit, member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 59th District, said one of the biggest issues affecting District 6 is affecting everyone — the economy.

“If our budget is going to be cut, we're going to have to figure out ways to manage our expenditures and manage our income and also to ensure that we still have an economic base to work with,” Veit said. “The economy is on everybody's minds right now, and the passing of Amendment 5 will only increase the cost to the average of my constituents and small businesses as another overhead that we do not need right now.”

Lisa Thomas served on the Missouri House of Representatives from 2021 to 2025. She stands to protect Missouri businesses and families by not draining resources from them.

“So we don't want to overtax,” Thomas said. “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 the lower income and also to working families and those on fixed incomes.”

She said she would start with addressing the budget.

“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.”

Jefferson City businessman and son of the late State Sen. Carl Vogel, Jake Vogel, calls himself a fiscal conservative and says he would bring a unique perspective to the Capitol.

“I want to go up to the Missouri Senate and legislature, and I want to look at it from a business lens,” Vogel said. “I’m the only business guy in this field that knows how to sign both sides of a paycheck. I think we need more business people. How to balance the budget? We can't just send money out the door everywhere. We have to be fiscally responsible. After all, the COVID money's dried up. We need to get back to pre-2020 spending.”

Vogel promises to bring money back to the people in a fiscally responsible way.

Candidate Derrick Spicer is a longtime Jefferson City resident and owner of PMI Hotels. He said he is not a “political insider.”

“I think the state is stagnant,” Spicer said. “The state is going to be in real trouble here if we don't get that budget balanced. I think it's going to be a situation. I think the overspending that's going on right now in our state is just wasteful. I just think we need to, we got to, get a grip on that.”

Spicer supports lowering state taxes.

“I always worry about the middle class and other people too,” Spicer said. “I just think that we have to be able to lower taxes because if you look at our tax system right now, it's so outdated and it needs to be updated.”

Small business owner Amber Buckles said in a statement that she is not a career politician and wants to “get politics back to working for the people.”

“One of my top priorities is bringing more fiscal responsibility and accountability to state government,” Buckles wrote. “Government should live within its means just like every Missouri family and small business has to.”

Increasing spending is not a solution, according to Buckles.

“We need to examine where taxpayer dollars are going, eliminate waste, and ensure every dollar is spent wisely. I also support eliminating Missouri’s personal property tax.”