Missouri State House Representative – District 37

The State Senators and State Representatives are meant to act as a voice for children and families in their community when making decisions on how to use state taxpayer money and when introducing or voting on legislation that impacts families across the state. These decisions can include Medicaid and SNAP eligibility and benefits, funding for schools, curriculum and standardized test requirements, and services for foster youth across your state. We need an advocate for our District in the Missouri House.

Missouri House District 37 covers Grandview and South Kansas City in Jackson and Cass Counties. Here is a link to the map if interested https://www.zipdatamaps.com/politics/state-level/district/map-of-missouri-state-house-of-representatives-district-037. Joe Runions has been the representative of this district for the last 8 years. Because of term limits Joe cannot run for re-election so this is an open seat. There are 3 candidates on the ballot to fill this seat. I will provide what information I have and my take on who would do the best job advocating for the children in this district and in our state.

Daniel Karam has a campaign website where he provides information about his background and beliefs. Some stand out comments are “Democracy cannot work without an informed public.” AND “My main priorities have to do with Equality.” The VOTE411 Voter Guide indicates he is passionate about taxes especially how our public school systems are funded. His approach to the current challenges is addressing health care “When every citizen is guaranteed the ability to have their health concerns taken care of that does not weaken our state but strengthens our state.”

John Boyd Jr. has a campaign website where he provides some background information. Some stand out comments are “Fight for those unable to fight for themselves such as the unborn, children, elderly, and disabled.” and “People Deserve Someone Who Will Stand And Fight, Not Be A Chair Decoration.” The VOTE411 Voter Guide indicates he is passionate about decreasing government regulations and rebuilding neighborhood watch’s. His approach to the current challenges is keeping the economy strong and letting the people decide how to protect there health and families.

Note – I deliberately did not list which party any of these candidates are affiliated with because I believe party affiliation sometimes can make us ignore what the candidate is saying. I am an independent voter who votes for the candidate not the party.

I do not agree completely with any of these candidates. I also do not think any of them are completely off course. Because my focus is on what is best for children I am going with Daniel Karam because he lists youth and education as a top priority for him. Annette Turnbaugh does not seem to be a strong advocate for anything, I believe we need advocates right now to get away from status quo. John Boyd Jr. is definitely an advocate and I believe he would fight for what he believes in, I just disagree that the “economy” is the top priority.

Putting business, money and profit above the welfare of the people is exactly what led us to the biggest problems we face in this state. Since the 1980’s when we (yes WE) bought into the “trickle down” economic theory we started putting business first believing they would take care of us if they made profit but face it they do not.

I hope you found some of this information useful in deciding who to vote for to make Missouri a better state. Your vote definitely counts in the local and state elections. let your voice be heard.

Here is the link for the Missouri VOTE411 Voter Guide for the 2020 elections if you want more information: https://onyourballot.vote411.org/race-index.do?c=21358861