John Farmer de la Torre
John Farmer de la Torre (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Missouri's 7th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 7, 2018.
Torre completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Farmer de la Torre earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. As of the 2018 election, he was working on his master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His professional experience includes working in finance at AIG in New York City, in Swiss private banking at UBS in Los Angeles, and in the motion picture and television industry as a producer and assistant. He also contributed to making documentaries for National Geographic and Discovery Science and taught English in China.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
Incumbent Billy Long defeated Jamie Schoolcraft and Benjamin Brixey in the general election for U.S. House Missouri District 7 on November 6, 2018.
General election
General election for U.S. House Missouri District 7
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Billy Long (R) | 66.2 | 196,343 |
 | Jamie Schoolcraft (D) | 30.1 | 89,190 | |
| Benjamin Brixey (L) | 3.7 | 10,920 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 2 | ||
| Total votes: 296,455 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Jamie Schoolcraft defeated Kenneth Hatfield, John Farmer de la Torre, and Vincent Jennings in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Missouri District 7 on August 7, 2018.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Missouri District 7
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Schoolcraft | 40.6 | 12,499 |
| Kenneth Hatfield | 22.3 | 6,854 | ||
 | John Farmer de la Torre | 21.7 | 6,685 | |
 | Vincent Jennings | 15.4 | 4,738 | |
| Total votes: 30,776 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Natalie Faucett (D)
Republican primary election
Incumbent Billy Long defeated Jim Evans, Lance Norris, and Benjamin Holcomb in the Republican primary for U.S. House Missouri District 7 on August 7, 2018.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Missouri District 7
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Billy Long | 65.1 | 68,438 |
 | Jim Evans | 17.5 | 18,383 | |
| Lance Norris | 10.4 | 10,884 | ||
 | Benjamin Holcomb | 7.1 | 7,416 | |
| Total votes: 105,121 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Libertarian primary election
Benjamin Brixey advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Missouri District 7 on August 7, 2018.
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for U.S. House Missouri District 7
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Benjamin Brixey | 100.0 | 697 | |
| Total votes: 697 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
John Farmer de la Torre participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on July 16, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and John Farmer de la Torre's responses follow below.[2]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | I support Medicare for All since a health nation requires healthy people. I support a Federal Living Wage since prosperity for all is the best way to rebuild the middle class. |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | I believe social and economic inequality are by design and that all the challenges of public administration and human suffering flow from this agenda produced by a political elite for their monetary benefit. I believe working people should be in charge of good government and lead in the socially responsible private sector so we can equalize the benefits of society and free enterprise.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[4]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. John Farmer de la Torre answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | I am independent enough that I look up to no one except my parents.[4] | ” |
| “ | I think 1984 is a warning we ought to heed.[4] | ” |
| “ | I think leadership, vision, moral sophistication, a liberal arts education, intellectual honesty, wisdom, and appropriate life experience are vital qualities for an elected official. I also believe it is essential that an elected official has lived in the shoes of the most vulnerable. Humility is important too as is intellectual and ideological independence.[4] | ” |
| “ | I am well-educated, working class, have seen the bottom and top of our society, and know from personal experience what the working person is up against in terms of achieving meaningful change. It's important to have sociological awareness to understand the invisible forces that constrain or enable our lives. Without this awareness, a person is susceptible to ideology and lacks sufficient intellectual depth and independence to act for the interests of people.[4] | ” |
| “ | I believe a representative should protect and promote the interests of constituents in general and lead when necessary for their benefit toward new horizons.[4] | ” |
| “ | Paraphrasing Emerson, I would be happy to leave a green patch of grass or to have made one life a little easier than it would have been had I not been here.[4] | ” |
| “ | I was six years old when America held it's Bicentennial Celebration. I remember the tall ships in New York Harbor. I was living in remote Wright County, Missouri, at the time. We were so far back in the woods we didn't have Amish, but we did have a television signal and three stations. We drew water from a well, cut trees for lumber in the winter, cooked grits on a cast iron stove, showered under a tub of water heated by the sun all day, and cut hay with the baler that we would collect to feed the cattle and horses in the winter. I had a perfect childhood.[4] | ” |
| “ | I was 12 years old on my first job cutting thistles in the cow pasture for Old Man McWilliams, a diary farmer neighbor of mine. He paid me $1.75 an hour and I had big plans for that money. He employed me through high school as a dairy hand. He and his wife also ran a side business in foster care with children constantly cycling through the home. He treated me fine but now I understand those children's plight which motivates me to fight the poverty that causes so much social and economic distress to low-income families.[4] | ” |
| “ | Jose Luis Borges, "Ficciones," or Expupery's "The Little Prince."[4] | ” |
| “ | Jubal Harshaw in Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" and Maskull in David Lindsay's "Voyage to Arcturus."[4] | ” |
| “ | I have signed copy about the Moon landing by Buzz Aldrin.[4] | ” |
| “ | Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang by Silver.[4] | ” |
| “ | People from the bottom of our society must make no mistakes and receive mentorship at the appropriate time to rise up and if they do not find that constant mentorship their rise may plateau or they may fall back to their rank in society. Elite schooling is a portal to success but it is not guaranteed, and even when achieved it may not be socially useful or meaningful for such a person whose awareness has expanded due to social mobility, so this person may find themselves to be a socioeconomic refugee in a society. These are talented people who move through society and see it for what it is. There dislocation is exacerbated when an individual is of more than one heritage or comes from a rural and educationally and socioeconomically underprivileged background.[4] | ” |
| “ | The U.S. House of Representatives broadly exhibits the character and qualities of this very large and diverse nation. As such, it is unruly and change occurs with great difficulty but due to its size and expansiveness, consensus, when achieved, can be representative, when it functions correctly. It is vulnerable to hyper-partisanship and bottlenecking as we can see. A representative is only one of 435 individuals, yet a principled stand by any one of these empowered individuals can make a difference. The problem of course is that so few take stands so in such an environment leadership and vision can be especially notable and these are more powerful than mere political wrangling.[4] | ” |
| “ | Prior experience in politics is not necessary. I have none. I do however have an education specifically suitable to public service at the national and international level. I also have work experience of a similar character. These makeup for the lack of prior elective service.[4] | ” |
| “ | We have to modernize our workforce and deal with civic illiteracy. We have to rebuild also the social contract and reform American capitalism so it works for all people, not just the few. Most importantly, we must return Congress and our government back to the people. We must wrest it away from corporate control. We must get money out of politics to end oligarchic rule. If we don't do this, militarization and increased surveillance of our society will worsen and American democracy will die. On top of this, we must take care of our environment and the planet, or politics will become distinctly savage in the future.[4] | ” |
| “ | I think representatives should serve four years. Two years churns the U.S. House and does not permit enough time for the elected official to learn the job and become effective, never mind permitting the person time to achieve any legislative accomplishments of note.[4] | ” |
| “ | I think three U.S. Senate terms and nine U.S. House terms, for a total of 18 years each, is enough for any person to learn the job and benefit people, and also permits generational change. It also permits 36 total years in both houses, which enables careerism that I do not support but would enable very long-term intergenerational sharing of knowledge when warranted through the virtues of exemplary representatives.[4] | ” |
| “ | I support computer-assisted non-partisan redistricting.[4] | ” |
| “ | I have heard too many stories to mention, but most of them involve how our incumbent Billy Long voted against the health care of the constituent and failed to provide any alternative to Obamacare, but made certain to gamble at the casino tables in Las Vegas, fully-insured. This fact outraged them and me. I will not gamble with people's lives.[4] | ” |
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
I am a fair-minded Democrat who puts country before party and works for solutions that help all Americans, especially for working people. I chose to run for office because America needs working class people in Congress so we fulfill our national destiny of a government made of the people, led by the people, and that is for the people. I believe leadership and vision are critical to reshaping and designing our world. I believe our nation functions best when we meet the needs of our national community. I believe compassion is the foundation for a system of ethics that will renew our social contract and America. Is there anything you would like to add? I am of the new generation. As a journalist, I am dedicated to finding and reporting facts. My chosen vocation is to speak truth to power. I think this strength and virtue, and my freedom from the conventions of all current politicians, makes me the sort of public servant needed in today's challenging times. I put people first because I am of the people and have seen and done enough to have acquired the right skills and experience to be a champion for the voiceless and powerless. Their interests are mine.[4] |
” |
| —John Farmer de la Torre[1] | ||
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Missouri's 7th Congressional District election, 2018
- Missouri's 7th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on July 16, 2018
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "John Farmer de la Torre's responses," July 16, 2018
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
