St. Louis American: Tell our readers why they should care about the office of Missouri Secretary of State.
Jason Kander: The Secretary of State is the guardian of our democracy. It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State to approach the job in a way that leaves politics at the door and protects every voter in the state. I’m the only candidate in the race who has a record of being able to put politics aside.
American: Talk about your opponent’s connection to Voter ID legislation.
Jason Kander: I have been opposed to the Voter ID proposals in Missouri because they are extremely unfair, and that includes my opponent’s proposal. There are states that have a requirement to show a photo ID that doesn’t disenfranchise eligible voters. The Missouri proposals would disenfranchise eligible voters.
American: How?
Jason Kander: A classic example of playing politics with elections and causing real consequences is my opponent’s proposal, which would end absentee voting by mail. My opponent, Shane Schoeller, claims this was designed to stop voter fraud, yet admitted there are no cases of voter fraud on record that it would have stopped. It would keep many elderly people, and many people in urban and rural areas, from voting. This is personal to me, since I voted absentee by mail while I was serving in Afghanistan.
American: How did you serve in Afghanistan?
Jason Kander: I was an intelligence officer investigating corruption in Afghani government. When I came home and was elected as state representative, I realized there is plenty of anti-corruption work to do in Jefferson City. That is why I have fought so hard to reform campaign ethics. Our broken campaign finance laws are the true fraud in Missouri elections.
American: Our readers have a history of helping beat Rex Sinquefield’s candidates at the polls. Talk about the sense in which your opponent is Sinquefield’s candidate.
Jason Kander: Shane Schoeller has struggled to fundraise successfully in this campaign, and Sinquefield has struggled at times with ballot proposals he has sponsored, which must go through the Secretary of State. So they have teamed up. Rex Sinquefield is now bankrolling that campaign.
American: Why would it be troubling for Sinquefield to help elect a Secretary of State?
Jason Kander: When I’m Secretary of State, I will treat everyone fairly, and that includes Mr. Sinquefield, since that’s a requirement of the job that I take seriously. But any time one of the biggest customers of an elected office bankrolls a candidate for that office, voters should pay very close attention. My campaign has a broad base of 2,000 contributors, with the biggest contributor responsible for only 3 percent of my campaign funds. That’s a stark difference from Shane Schoeller and Rex Sinquefield.
American: Tell us about your African-American support.
Jason Kander: My former colleagues Tishaura O. Jones and Chris Carter are close friends and have been very helpful. Steve Webb, chairman of the Black Caucus, was one of my first endorsements. I am proud to have County Executive Charlie A. Dooley’s endorsement. In Kansas City, one of my very close friends, from a long time before he ran for mayor, is Mayor Sly James. I was the first elected official anywhere to endorse Sly. On the policy side, I have been one of the leaders in Jefferson City trying to make sure we fund a disparity study. We need to preserve some very important programs that support minority- and women-owned businesses.
Jason Kander the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State on the Nov. 6 ballot.
