Editor’s note: The following responses appeared in the Oct. 24 print edition of The Call. Some responses may have been edited for grammar and shortened due to print space constraints. Continue to check callnewspapers.com for more web-exclusive content from the candidates.
Rep. Bridget Walsh Moore, D-Affton, does not have a Republican challenger in the election for the 93rd Missouri House District. However, she will be challenged by a third-party candidate – Libertarian James O’Donnell. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
O’Donnell is director of FSQRA Rocket Product, Inc. He lives in Lemay with his wife, Nichole. He has two adult children and one younger daughter.
When asked why he was seeking office, O’Donnell said, “State and local neglect of Lemay and surrounding areas.”
Walsh Moore is the current representative of the 93rd District. She is married to Gregg Moore and together they have one child. She was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2020, and was reelected in 2022.
“I want to be a strong advocate for South County in the legislature. As a working mom, I want to ensure working families have a seat at the table,” Walsh Moore said on why she was seeking reelection.
The candidates gave the following responses to The Call’s questionnaire:
What issue do you consider the single most important issue in this race and why?
O’Donnell: “Accountability and restoration of resources to our community. Our community has been given resources that never seem to be applied to our community.”
Walsh Moore: “Bringing resources to South County that we are owed with tax agreements.”
Other issues you perceive in your race and your position on each:
O’Donnell: “We have asked for and been denied help with issues from vagrancy to public drug use to derelict properties to the safety of our children. We need answers and solutions, not lip service.”
Walsh Moore: “Stopping school vouchers and protecting public education.”
What do you perceive to be the 93rd District’s greatest challenges? How will you address these challenges?
O’Donnell: “Infrastructure, business growth in District 93, single-family house affordability, public safety. We need to start by addressing the misuse of funds and resources
Walsh Moore: “We need increased funding for streets, lights and infrastructure repairs. This will take a combination of county and state funds as well as coordination of projects through cooperative leadership.”
What do you perceive to be the state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
O’Donnell: “Federal overreach is the biggest issue that we need to keep in check. The 10th Amendment states that what is not directly addressed by the Constitution is reserved for the states or the individual. Many federal agencies issue rules as laws. The Missouri Legislature needs to stand up and defend its citizens against tyranny.”
Walsh Moore: “As the Ranking Minority Member of the Workforce Development Committee, I hear constantly from employers that they need skilled, trained workers yesterday. Promoting STEM careers to middle schoolers, creating apprenticeships in the trades for high schoolers and offering alternatives to a four-year college degree will help us fill that gap.”
What is your position on abortion?
O’Donnell: “Personally, I believe abortion is, in general, wrong. However, my morality may not apply to you. Unless the child has reached independent viability with minimal medical care, it is the decision of the parents whether or not to allow the child to develop.”
Walsh Moore: “I trust women to make their own medical decisions and don’t need the government in my doctor’s office.”
What is your position on the death penalty?
O’Donnell: “If you have been convicted by a jury of your peers and have exhausted the appeal process, then due process has been served. Unfortunately, no system is perfect, but holding the worst of our society indefinitely is unfair to the victims and a burden on our resources.”
Walsh Moore: “Currently, the US is the only developed country that still has the death penalty. Missouri needs to move past this archaic practice.”
Are changes needed to the law allowing Missouri citizens to carry concealed weapons? If so, why? If not, why not?
O’Donnell: “No. I would like, however, to see better education around guns as part of the curriculum for high school students. I would also like to see better care around mental health.”
Walsh Moore: “Missouri needs common sense gun laws, including permits for conceal and carry weapons.”
What do you propose to generate revenue for road and bridge improvements?
O’Donnell: “The abuses of resources need to be addressed. The bottom 30% of performers need to be fired and replaced.”
Walsh Moore: “We don’t need to generate new funds, the gas tax increase has provided that. What we need is for conservative legislators to put MoDOT in the budget. Missouri has the seventh-largest highway system and ranks 40th in state road funding.”
Should police departments be defunded?
O’Donnell: “The abuses of resources need to be addressed. The bottom 30% of performers need to be fired and replaced. The top 10% should be promoted.”
Walsh Moore: “Police need ample funding to counter the growing crime rate in our area. We also need to focus on changing the way we think of police as first responders in all scenarios where an accompanying social worker is a better resource than an officer.”
Keep reading for web-exclusive questions and answers from the candidates
Editor’s note: The following questions and answers are as they were submitted to The Call by the candidates in their entirety. They have not been edited, other than to ensure appropriate language and no direct attacks on opponents or other candidates.
What issue do you consider the single most important issue in this race and why?
O’Donnell: “Accountability and restoration of resources to our community. Our community has been given resources that never seem to be applied to our community.”
Walsh Moore: “Bringing resources to South County that we are owed with tax agreements.”
Other issues you perceive in your race and your position on each:
O’Donnell: “We have asked for and been denied help with issues from vagrancy to public drug use to derelict properties to the safety of our children. We need answers and solutions, not lip service.”
Walsh Moore: “Stopping school vouchers and protecting public education.”
What do you perceive to be the 93rd District’s greatest challenges? How will you address these challenges?
O’Donnell: “Infrastructure, Business Growth In District 93, Single Family Housing Affordability, Public Safety. We need to start by addressing misuse of funds and resources. We need to make bad actors accountable and then re-allocate those funds to where they will be utilized properly.”
Walsh Moore: “We need increased funding for streets, lights and infrastructure repairs. This will take a combination of county and state funds as well as coordination of projects through cooperative leadership.”
What do you perceive to be the state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
O’Donnell: “Federal overreach is the biggest issue that we need to keep in check. The 10th Amendment states that what is not directly addressed by the Constitution is reserved for the States or the individual. Many Federal agencie are issuing rules as laws. The MO legislature needs to stand up and defend its citizens against that tyranny.”
Walsh Moore: “As the Ranking Minority Member of the Workforce Development Committee I hear constantly from employers that they need skilled, trained workers yesterday. Promoting STEM careers to middle schoolers, creating apprenticeships in the trades for high schoolers, and offering alternatives to a four year college degree will help us fill that gap.”
What is your position on abortion?
O’Donnell: “Personally I believe abortion is, in general, wrong. However, my morality may not apply to you. Unless the child has reached independent viability with a minimal of medical care, it is the decision of the parents whether or not to allow the child to develop.”
Walsh Moore: “I trust women to make their own medical decisions and don’t need the government in my doctor’s office.”
What is your position on the death penalty?
O’Donnell: “If you have been convicted by a jury of your peers and have exhausted the appeal process then due process has been served. Unfortunately no system is perfect, but holding the worst of our society indefinitely is unfair to the victims and a burden on our resources.”
Walsh Moore: “Currently, the US is the only developed country that still has the death penalty. Missouri needs to move past this archaic practice.”
What is your position on tax-increment financing? Are changes needed to this law?
O’Donnell: “TIF has been terribly abused. The concept is sound but execution has been failing. Limits need to be place on use and who can apply.”
Walsh Moore: “TIFs can be used effectively to bring development but it needs to be closely monitored and balanced with the benefits accordingly.”
Would you support placing a constitutional amendment before voters that, if approved, would repeal the supermajority requirement for school-district bond issues?
O’Donnell did not answer.
Walsh Moore did not answer.
Are changes needed to the state’s foundation formula for funding education?
O’Donnell: “To help someone over a wall you give them a ladder. They still can not get over the wall, so you give them another ladder. Then another, then another. When you look over the fence. all the ladders are in a pile instead of leaning on the walls. The problem is not a lack of resource, but the misuse and abuse of the resources given.”
Walsh Moore: “The foundation formula needs to be raised to actually cover the cost of schooling. The state should distribute funds to ensure an equitable, quality education to all students regardless of zip code.”
Are changes needed to the law allowing Missouri citizens to carry concealed weapons? If so, why? If not, why not?
O’Donnell: “No. I would however like to see better education around guns as part of the ciriculum for high school students. I would also like to see better care around mental health.”
Walsh Moore: “Missouri needs common sense gun laws, including permits for conceal and carry weapons.”
Are changes needed to the state’s current Open Meetings and Records Law? If so, what would you propose?
O’Donnell: “Transparency is vital to effective control of the government. Too many politicians forget that they answer to the citizens, not the other way around.”
Walsh Moore did not answer.
What do you propose to generate revenue for road and bridge improvements?
O’Donnell: “The abuses of resources need to be addressed. The bottom 30% of performers need to be fired and replaced.”
Walsh Moore: “We don’t need to generate new funds, the gas tax increase has provided that. What we need is for conservative legislators to put MoDOT in the budget. Missouri has the 7th largest highway system and ranks 40th in state road funding.”
What will you do to improve Missouri’s economy?
O’Donnell: “End or reduce taxes across the board starting with the income tax. Beyond that we need to encourage our citizens to start businesses. We have a wealth of talent and resources that we can assist to grow.”
Walsh Moore: “I overwhelmingly hear from companies that they need skilled, trained workers in STEM, healthcare, and skilled trades. By investing in our community colleges and creating a ready workforce, we can maintain and grow our economy.”
Would you support legislation to facilitate a merger of St. Louis County and St. Louis city?
O’Donnell: “No.”
Walsh Moore: “A merger is seemingly inevitable at this point. The deal would take a lot of negotiation, open mindedness, and squashing of egos to get a deal that works best for the entire metro area.”
What process do you favor for redistricting? What do you think of the state’s current redistricting process?
O’Donnell: “Redistricting should be linear by neighborhoods and populations, not the wonky, wibbly, wobbly lines that the uniparty have drafted.”
Walsh Moore did not answer.
Do you support the changes the Legislature made to the Sunshine Law in 2019, including exempting some legislative records?
O’Donnell: “Transparency is vital to effective control of the government. Too many politicians forget that they answer to the citizens, not the other way around.”
Walsh Moore did not answer.
Should police departments be defunded?
O’Donnell: “The abuses of resources need to be addressed. The bottom 30% of performers need to be fired and replaced. The top 10% should be promoted.”
Walsh Moore: “Police need ample funding to counter the growing crime rate in our area. We also need to focus on changing the way we think of police as first responders in all scenarios where an accompanying social worker is a better resource than an officer.”
What do you think of the leadership of Gov. Mike Parson?
O’Donnell did not answer.
Walsh Moore did not answer.
What will or have you done to work across the aisle in Jefferson City?
O’Donnell: “beauty of being a Libertarian is that instead of being hampered by a party and voting for the lesser evil, I can work for the people for the greatest good regardless of the party proposing it.”
Walsh Moore: “I am proud to have partnered with Rep. Melanie Stinett of Springfield to pass disability employment legislation. She carried my bill on the Republican side and saw it through to the Governor’s desk. I have partnered with Rep. Louis Riggs to expand broadband access across the state and continue to develop workforce opportunities.”
What bill would you sponsor as your first legislation post-election?
O’Donnell did not answer.
Walsh Moore: “I will be re-filing my legislation for paid maternity leave, tort reform, and disability voting rights.”
With fewer than 50 percent of rural Missourians having access to high-speed internet service, should Missouri’s newspapers continue to be the medium in which all public notices required by law are published and distributed in print to provide due process to those persons affected by the public notices?
O’Donnell: “Yes, we need to connect with people by what ever means they have available.”
Walsh Moore: “As a member of the Governor’s Council on Broadband Expansion , I see first-hand how detrimental lack of reliable internet service can be to rural communities. The local newspapers are still the main source of information and lifeline to these areas that cannot be retired until a proper replacement is in place.”
Should members and staff of all public governmental bodies (including state, county and local, and public colleges and uni versities) be prohibited from downloading or using software designed to send encrypted messages by electronic means that automatically self-destruct on communication devices purchased with public money? In other words, should the Confide app or other such software be prohibited from use because such apps are capable of destroying public records that should be available to citizens?
O’Donnell: “Yes. Transparency is vital to effective control of the government. Too many politicians forget that theyanswer to the citizens, not the other way around.”
Walsh Moore: “I have worked with secure information in many capacities over my career, and have yet to find a reason why legislators would need a self-destructing communication app.”
Do you support right-to-work legislation?
O’Donnell: “Yes. Unions have their place, but they are not for everyone. In some cases they are an impediment to progress and employment.”
Walsh Moore: “My first job was as a union usher at The Muny and since then I have stood by workers rights to organize.”
What changes should Missouri make to its health care system?
O’Donnell did not answer.
Walsh Moore: “So many things, but holding insurance companies accountable, and regulating prescription benefit plans. We also need to seriously address the complete lack of rural healthcare in the state. “
Are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
O’Donnell did not answer.
Walsh Moore: “I truly enjoy my current committees: Ranking Member of Workforce Development, Ranking Member of Innovation and Technology, Homeland Security, Conservation and Natural Resources, and Local Government.”
Should the Legislature oversee, authorize or regulate the use of emergency powers?
O’Donnell: “Yes. Temporary power is never temporary.”
Walsh Moore: “The balance of power within the three branches of government must be preserved at all levels of government. “
