Scott Sattler and Bryant Wolfin, candidates for the 145th district seat in the Missouri House of Representatives, answered questions at a public forum hosted by the Perry County Republican Club Thursday, July 16.
Both Wolfin the incumbent, and Sattler the challenger were given the same question with a minute and a half to respond.
When asked about how their personal values align with their political aspirations, Wolfin reiterated his firm stance as a constitutionalist that he has continually ran on throughout his campaign and time in office.
“I’ve kind of made it a mission to wake folks up about how and what is in, and folks meaning our colleagues, what is the Constitution,” Wolfin said. “Because you would be shocked how many of our colleagues have no clue what is in the Constitution. And that’s crazy to me because we all swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, but yet if we don’t know what’s in it, how are we supposed to do so? And so that is kind of one of the things that I’ve made a priority moving forward, but also not just our colleagues, but Missouri as a whole.”
Sattler responded, admitting that while he is not as well read on the state constitution as Wolfin he is committed to protecting it, and that he is committed to serving conservative values he says are important to Missourians and to himself.
“I am pro-life and protecting the unborn is very important to me, and being Pro-veteran,” Sattler said. “I think that you served your country and that should be acknowledged and gain some privileges for that because you don’t get much pay. And I also believe wholeheartedly in the Constitution on the Second Amendment. I’m not a constitutionalist because I’m not a lawyer and I haven’t studied as well as Bryant has, but I’m there to represent you and for the values that you have.”
Wolfin and Sattler were asked about their endorsements. Sattler said that he has been endorsed by the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, the Missouri Chamber Political Action Committee, and the Missouri National Education Association. Wolfin said that he has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association as well as local unions, but admitted he does not seek many official endorsements.
Wolfin also reiterated his position of voting no on “omnibus bills” that roll several issues into one bill when questioned about his voting history regarding bills on abortion and women’s issues.
“When you have criminal offenses that have nothing to do with abortion, have nothing do with babies and you lump it into the same bill and you change the title and you try to get real crafty it’s going to fail and you’re going to lose baby’s lives because we couldn’t pass something single-subject,” Wolfin said. “But as long as we’re passing them constitutionally I will support them 100% all the time. If we pass these bills constitutionally, we limit them to a single subject to where we can base them off each individual merit of each individual bill, then they’re going to still pass. There’s no reason why we have to log roll these bills. There’s just no reason to do that. And so as long as we are being constitutional about it, I’m going to support these efforts.”
Sattler responded saying that while he respects Wolfin’s commitment to his constitutional standards, he still believes Wolfin too often votes against conservative issues.
“I understand and I admire his convictions on that but at the end of the day, bottom line, all the speeches on the floor and song and dance still the record shows that you vote no,” Sattler said. “And coming down the line, I think that’s the wrong message to send to our constituents.”
Sattler continued that stance in his closing remarks.
“I believe that if you want a voice to determine the direction of our district, we need to make a change in August,” Sattler said. “Our district needs to send a real conservative to Jeff City, someone who will support conservative legislation and will work with the House leadership on moving forward policies that will make lasting differences for our community.Some questions I just want to leave you with that I was thinking about earlier. So you know, do you support veterans is one question. Do you support protecting kids? Do you support protecting the unborn? Well, unfortunately, Representative Wolfen has voted no on all those issues. So I ask for your vote on August 4th.”
In his closing remarks, Wolfin expressed his concerns regarding the current political process in Missouri and his desire to continue his push for his values as a constitutionalist and representative of rural communities.
“I went to Jeff City to be a champion for liberty. I went to Jeff City because Jefferson City is broken. I don’t like how it’s working for Missourians right now,” Wolfin said. “You have to align with special interests. You got to do what the speaker wants. You have to do with the floor leader once, otherwise you can’t be represented. And that’s an issue. And so I’ve been the loudest voice of bringing this to the forefront. This is due to house rules that we have. We’ve squandered away all of our power to a simple few at the top. As I said, we are much more, so I’m hopeful to go back and fight for at least another two years.”
