Senate District 6 candidate interview: Todd ‘Ike’ Skelton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The presiding commissioner of Camden County wants the opportunity to serve Mid-Missouri on a larger scale.

Todd "Ike" Skelton is one of the six candidates seeking the Senate District 6 seat after Sen. Mike Bernskoetter’s term is up in January 2027. The state Senate district covers several Mid-Missouri counties, including Cole, Camden, Miller, Moniteau and Morgan.

Skelton’s opponents are Amber Buckles, Derrick Spicer, Lisa Thomas, Rudy Veit and Jake Vogel.

HALEY SWAINO: What would you like voters to know about you as a person and as a candidate?

IKE SKELTON: Well, as a person, I'm just very passionate about the government that we have. I'm passionate about what our nation is founded on. I'm passionate about the blessings that this nation has given so many millions of people. And I just want to see a smaller government, a responsible government to the people. And personally, why I really ran for this office is all of those same reasons, because I don't see that kind of government coming out of the Capitol. And here in Missouri right now, I see an awful lot of abuses of the Constitution. I see a lot of government largesse, tax breaks and carve-outs for large corporations and other special interest groups. And I want to try to do something to turn that back around for people.

SWAINO: Next question here. What do you see as the top issues facing Senate District 6? And then maybe what specific legislation would you introduce or support to address those issues?

SKELTON: Well, you know, infrastructure is always an issue. And one of the big problems we have right now in Missouri is energy production. And I believe we need to look at a much more robust energy package. It's sad that we've gotten away from coal. It's sad that we aren't working on natural gas quite as much. We know that the federal government, especially, has pushed and kind of almost forced through all of the billions of dollars in incentives in wind and solar that's gobbling up Missouri farmland by the tens and dozens of acres at a time, hundreds of acres at a time. So I really want to do something about that. The Missouri legislature has kind of kicked the solar regulations legislation down the road for the last five years or so, and it's time that somebody does something about that. I know Missourians are very concerned about their farmland being taken up by these.

And the data centers, obviously, data centers are also a huge concern. And one of the biggest concerns about them is the energy that they consume. And the Department of Natural Resources will tell you: I was in a meeting several months ago, two weeks ago. Most of our energy is brought in from out of the state. We're just not producing enough energy here in Missouri. And nuclear is a long way out. I really want to see a return to coal. And I don't understand why we tear down the ones that we have. I know there's this big environmental thing, but we've been burning coal pretty cleanly for a long time now, and Missouri has a big chunk of its own. It might be a dirtier coal, but it's time we start using some of those resources.

SWAINO: How will you balance economic growth here in Missouri while also preserving the quality of life for people in Missouri communities?

SKELTON: Well, that's probably one of the places that I differ from a lot of my colleagues in economic development. I don't believe it is the government's function to perform economic development. I believe it's the government's function, get the heck out of the way of business and let businesses perform the economic development themselves.  

I would also like to see a lot more local control on these issues. As the presiding commissioner in Camden County, I have been often times hands tied and struggle to try to do things in our community to help prevent. We have the lake there so we really need to preserve that. So I would like to see a little more local control on some of those issues. And if, and I think if we have local control, then you'll have the people in those communities decide whether they want to have this huge industrial base in their community, or maybe they just want to kick back on the front porch or watch the world go by.

SWAINO: How will you work with legislators from both parties when your constituents' interests are at stake?

SKELTON: I work with anybody literally across the aisles. I'm tired of this left-right paradigm that we have in an awful lot of cases. Anything that is good for our state that doesn't violate the Constitution, doesn't violate my principles as a conservative Republican, I will work with those folks. I want to see things changed in Missouri. Our tax code desperately needs to be changed, and [Amendment] 5 is not the way to do it, by the way. But we need some, we need to, we need to do some more innovative things. We do way too much what I call corporate welfare, of cutting different corporations out of the tax base, different industries out of the tax base. So we need to look at all of those different areas. And I'll work with anybody on any of those types of subjects.

SWAINO: Okay, great. Next question here. How will you stay accountable to the people of District 6, if elected? How can constituents expect to maybe communicate with you throughout your term?

SKELTON: So, I mean, five counties is a lot different than just the one county of Camden. But I am very honored to say and believe that our commission is probably one of the most open and active and transparent commissions, governmental bodies, maybe in the entire state. At the end of every meeting that I have, I ask, ’Is there anybody here that wants to bring something else before the commission that is not otherwise on the agenda?’ And people know that I have an open-door policy in my commission office right now. Anybody can come in and talk to me at any time, and I want to have that same policy here. I know it's a lot more different people and your time is very limited, but I want to work on that to figure out how we can make more time for the public to come in and speak with us here at this office. You know, we have six months out of the year that we're not even in office. So making sure that you continue to go around the district and see different folks, have different old meet-and-greets or whatever, and get that feedback from the people. Because Article 1, Section 1 of Missouri's Constitution says all political power is vested in the people, and the people need to be more involved. And I want them to be involved.

SWAINO: And what should Missouri do to address the rising cost of living? What is kind of your take on it?

SKELTON: Well, unfortunately, an awful lot of that stuff comes down from the federal government. You know, if we had more governors around the country that would just tell the federal government, 'now, we're not going to do these sorts of things,' the money that we spend, the trillions that are being printed in Washington, D.C., and spread out to the states. And then we just take that, and we use it, thinking that we're bettering ourselves when in reality all of those sorts of things cause inflation. They cause artificial growth where maybe that growth doesn't need to exist yet or isn't ready for it, which then strains our infrastructure.

So what can we really do as a state? We can lower taxes and cut our spending at the government level, and try to put more money back in the pockets of taxpayers. As far as price controls, I just think the best thing that we can do is get out of the way of business, once again cut those regulations. You know, we had a great question the other evening in a candidate forum, and they asked about daycare and subsidies for daycare, but we never looked at the regulations that are causing a daycare shortage to begin with. How about we look at some of those things and figure out how to get government out of the way instead of using more taxpayer dollars to try to solve that problem?

SWAINO: Now that was my next follow-up question. What's your position on state taxes? Would you support raising or lowering them?

SKELTON: Well, we definitely need to cut spending. That's the very first thing we need to do. And the lieutenant governor said there are some 300 or 3,000 new programs that have been caused by this most recent last few budgets. You know, and I find it interesting as to say that we have a spending problem and then want 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. As a matter of fact, they even just tell you that Amendment 5 is just kind of a revenue neutral. 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. And I will work with folks on that very, very hard. I think that is the one tax other than real estate tax that's a little tougher nut to crack, but I'd like to get rid of that, too. But personal property tax, we should be able to eliminate that. And I think that would put a ton of money in people's pockets instead.

SWAINO: Why are you the best candidate for this seat?

SKELTON: Because I truly do have a passion for not just serving people. I've been a servant most of my life. I've been in some sort of service through the military, through working, and through child support enforcement, family services. I was a corrections officer for a while, so, and then even when I was a locksmith, my last non-government profession, as it were, I still served people and help take care of people, get them out of jams that they were in, lock their keys. And so I have a passion for serving people, and I am very passionate about our Constitution.

I'm very passionate about small government, and I already have that in my heart. I'm not going to be a yes person for any other politician. I'm not going to be a yes person to leadership. I am not getting the big money from lobbyists that I'm then going to be beholden to. I'm not getting big money from corporations that I could maybe be beholden to. I'll be beholden to the people. I'll be beholden to the Constitution, and I truly do, I've had a lot of different experiences in life, which I believe give me that unique opportunity to understand where an awful lot of people are coming from.

As I said, I was a mechanic in the United States Army for eight years. I was a corrections officer for a while. I worked in child support enforcement, family services. I was an operating engineer, Local 513, operated heavy equipment for a while. So, and then a locksmith, like I said, I, I have this difference experiences that I believe uniquely set me apart to understand the viewpoints of various different constituent groups.

SWAINO: Okay, great. And then what's something that maybe along this campaign trail, you don't get asked at candidate forums or something you want to speak on and let viewers know and people, voters, know before they head to the polls that you don't get asked about often.

SKELTON: Well, you know, quite honestly, it's the issues in a number themselves. There's a ton of money being spent against me on personal matters. And, oh, by the way, all my taxes are paid, but you can't run for office if they're not. But these are the lies are spreading out around me. So we're not talking enough about the issues. I appreciate this opportunity to talk about some of those things. I'd love to see in more debates where we really talked to and got deeper in, you know, a one-minute answer on a candidate forum. I appreciate the opportunity, but it really just isn't enough to dig a little bit deeper into those issues. So that, to me, is kind of unfortunate that, you know, various Republican clubs or civic organizations, they send out questionnaires, problems with yes or no answers on something like that. But that's probably what I'm missing most, is it's just not having that opportunity to really discuss with the other candidates about the issues so that people can truly see a difference in how we would, how we can make legislation instead of, I mean, look, most every politician is likable. You need to be likable. Most of us have families that we love and adore, and all of these different things. So getting down to the meat of what's really going to happen when somebody wins and sits in a seat in a building behind us. What are they truly going to do? And those are the things I'd like to talk about a little bit more.

SWAINO: Okay, great. Last question here. Any last thing that you want people who maybe still are on the fence about where they're going to cast their vote, they should know about you before heading to the ballot box?

SKELTON: Folks, I am not bought and paid for by anybody. I'm not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody. I truly want to serve the people of my district and the State of Missouri. And it's not just the Senate District 6 that’s going to matter. Because every decision we make in this building behind us affects the entire state. So we need to be more cognizant of that.

I will not be beholden to special interests. I will not be beholden to the lobbyists and their efforts and money and so forth. I believe that really sets me aside -- I have been an activist for small government for a long time. I know how this place operates, and that's kind of why I want to be on the inside. And they don't want me there. They're spending a ton of money to keep me out of it. They're going after me personally and not talking the issues. Because they know I'm not going to be that rubber stamp. I’d appreciate your vote, Aug. 4, in the Republican primary.