Webcasts offering a look at candidates

For the past two weeks, the Just Saying webcast on the Standard Democrat website has focused on political races for the 148th Missouri House seat that are heating up in our area.

Bart Ziegenhorn and Mike Marsh, the two seeking the Democratic nomination for the post, were featured over the past two weeks. And the response to these two candidates was substantial.

Both Ziegenhorn and Marsh were given a chance to clearly outline what they hope to accomplish if elected in November and both did an exceptional job of providing voters with a snapshot of their backgrounds, their goals and, hopefully, their personalities.

In the next two weeks, the focus will be on the two Republicans seeking the seat vacated by Ellen Brandom in the 148th.

Holly Rehder and Josh Bill will be presented in an identical format to give voters an opportunity to hear and see what they hope to accomplish.

Following a break to focus this webcast on the upcoming Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, Just Saying will return with Neal Boyd, the Republican, and Steve Hodges, the incumbent Democrat, seeking the 149th District seat in the Missouri House.

These two new districts were carved out following the 2010 census, which redraws political subdivisions in our state.

Boyd and Hodges are running in the primary without opposition so their head-to-head showdown comes on election day in November.

It's easy to focus on the Presidential election or perhaps the Senate or Congressional seat battles in Missouri.

But the stark reality is that politics closer to home are quite often more important to our day-to-day lives. That's why we put the focus on these two House seats and the field of candidates hoping to win your vote.

Regardless of the outcome from the primary and then the general election, our community is blessed with four qualified, engaged citizens seeking the 148th post. The same can be said about the 149th seat.

It takes dedication and sacrifice to seek political office. All too often we brand "politicians" in an unfavorable light.

But the local candidates seeking these House seats are doing so because of a sincere interest to represent our values and our wants and needs in Jefferson City.

In addition to running on the newspaper website, the candidate interviews are also running on the public access SPS channel.

The access the website, go to www.standard-democrat.com and click on the Just Saying screen.

We hope you enjoy and learn. And then we hope you vote!