Missouri Republican Party

The Missouri Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP) in Missouri. The party Chairman is John Hancock, a political consultant and KMOX radio host from St. Louis, Missouri. Hancock is a former two term State Representative for Missouri, and previously served as the Missouri Republican Party's Executive Director from 1997-2003. Hancock was elected to the position on February 21, 2015.^[1]

Other Missouri GOP leadership

• Valinda Freed, Vice-Chair ^[2]
• Pat Thomas, Secretary
• Richard Peerson, Treasurer
• Jon Prouty, Executive Director

Current Republican officeholders

Republicans hold two of the state's six statewide offices, a supermajority in the Missouri House of Representatives and a supermajority in the Missouri Senate. Republicans also hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and six of the state's eight U.S. House of Representatives seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

• Roy Blunt

U.S. House of Representatives

• Ann Wagner, 2nd District
• Blaine Luetkemeyer, 3rd District
• Vicky Hartzler, 4th District
• Sam Graves, 6th District
• Billy Long, 7th District
• Jason T. Smith, 8th District

Statewide offices

• Lieutenant Governor: Peter Kinder

History

The state of Missouri has been known to be a bellwether state, which means that it has voted for the winning presidential candidate in all but two elections. The vote of Missouri can be swayed either way and historically, no party has had a strong grasp on the state. Despite this, the Republican Party has recently become more successful on the national level for Missouri, as the state voted for the Republican candidate for President in 2008 and 2012, years in which the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama won overall.

Platform

Family and education

The Missouri GOP believes that families are the bedrock of Missouri. The party tries to pursue policies that strengthen families and get rid of those that weaken family values.^[3]

The Missouri Republicans support laws that will help fund public schools. They believe in giving families the option to take their child out of a failing school and transfer them to the school of their choice. They want to look into and fix the urban education problem that has already hurt so many families. The GOP believes in focusing on a formula that takes into account the needs of the children over the tax capacity of that district and also providing education savings accounts that are tax exempt.

The Missouri Republicans believe that parents should have an important role and should get involved in their child's education. Parents should have the final word regarding their child's education. They also expect parents to act as role models and provide a good and nurturing environment at home.

The Missouri GOP believes in installing filters and other programs to block pornography and any other harmful materials in schools. It also wants to get rid of school-based clinics that give out contraceptives and abortion counseling.

It supports school boards and their rights to remove any unfit teachers. It also believes in giving the right to a school and letting them decide how to teach creationism and the theory of evolution.

The fundamental right to life

The party believes that civil rights are for all citizens, regardless of race, color, religion or creed and also the fundamental right to life for born and unborn children, the terminally ill and the handicapped. The party believes that laws should be provided for all of these people. The Missouri GOP supports the idea that life begins at conception and it supports an effort for a human life amendment to the Constitution. It hopes to endorse the idea of applying the 14th Amendment to unborn children and encourage the teaching abstinence and sexual responsibility to young people

The Missouri Republicans support;

Ruling that will overturn Roe V. Wade and appointing officials that will respect human life. They want to provide women seeking abortion with information about other alternatives, such as adoption. They want minors to have to gain parental consent before getting an abortion. They also want to stop any tax money from going to fund abortions or abortion clinics. They oppose fetal tissue research and want to eliminate it from the state of Missouri. They support legislation that will end all human cloning and prohibit assisted suicide.

Marriage

The Missouri Republicans believe that the traditional family is the foundation of the U.S. and it is the country's future. The Missouri Republicans want to encourage the values of hard work and personal responsibility. They believe that marriage should only happen between a man and a woman, and that is the only type of marriage they will support no matter what state it took place in. The party also wants to end the marriage penalty in the state's tax code.

Comprehensive health security

Missouri Republicans want every citizen to have the ability to choose a health plan that best fits their needs and price range. They believe in giving senior citizens more health care choices and assistance if needed. They believe in replacing the current health program with MO HealthNet, with the hopes that it will make health care more affordable and more available to the population. The party believes in supporting Missourians to buy their own personal health insurance and it supports reform laws that stopped the abuse of the judicial system through the filing of lawsuits.

Faith

Missouri's Republicans accept that Missouri's many different faith communities are essential to society. They support and embrace faith communities, because of the charity, virtue and shared prosperity that can be provided from religion. The Missouri GOP believes in protecting the religious freedoms of citizens. The party supports freedom to practice religion. It supports the protection of the acknowledgement of God in public life and keeping the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Missouri Republicans support all efforts to honor and preserve America's religious heritage.

Homeland security

Missouri Republicans believe in taking the war on terror directly to America's enemies. They support the work of the federal and state Departments of Homeland Security and the coordination of the gathering and use of intelligence. They support the application of the Patriot Act to prevent terrorist attacks while protecting individual liberties. The GOP supports increased security at borders to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country and revising the system of monitoring the status of visas.

Property rights and the environment

Landowners have the right to preside over their land without any interference from the government. The party believes that the source of the U.S.'s riches is food production. It believes in the wise use of resources and the conservation of the land that food is planted on. It believes that agriculture is important since it is Missouri's largest industry.

Operations and solutions

Economy and jobs

The GOP opposes job-killing policies. It pledges to oppose Democrat-backed policies that could stifle economic recovery. Republicans vow to hold the line on taxes and believe that the private sector creates new jobs more efficiently than any government program could.

Health care

Republicans believe that Americans are opposed to federal health care legislation. They plan on controlling the cost of insurance by introducing more competition. The Missouri GOP supports allowing groups of people to pool and purchase health care at lower prices.

Energy

The Missouri GOP stands for finding a pro-consumer, pro-job, pro-America energy policy that will emphasize market-based solutions and the use of inexpensive, secure, and reliable domestic fuel resources to grow the economy. It wants to break America's dependency on other countries for an energy source.

National security

Republicans believe in keeping the U.S. safe. They believe that could be achieved if these following steps are taken. They want to secure the peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. They want to finish the job the right way without creating a timeline for withdrawal. They also want to keep terrorists off American soil. The GOP also wants to install defense mechanisms to stop missiles from reaching the U.S. and it wants to secure America's borders.

Role of government

Republicans believe in protecting the rights that civilians are given in the constitution. This can be achieved by loosening up gun laws and getting rid of a lot of government involvement in people's daily lives. They also believe in maintaining property rights and appointing stricter constitutionalist judges to the bench.

External links

• Missouri Republican Party
• Missouri College Republicans

References