Missouri House of Representatives District 125 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Missouri, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Missouri House of Representatives District 125 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

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• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 125

Dane Diehl defeated Robert E. Smith in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 125 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dane Diehl (R)	86.1	10,609
		Robert E. Smith (L)	13.9	1,710

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,319
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Gold and silver standard to protectMissouri against inflationary spending by the feds.

Eliminate most taxes and challenge federal spending

Direct the control of schools to the locality the schools exist in.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of your gains of your own industry.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Robert E. Smith (L)

An elected official must listen to the constituents, but must never tread on the publics personal liberty.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Robert E. Smith (L)

I understand personal liberty, I have studied the Missouri Constitution several times, USCON, And believe in the free person.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of your own industry.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Robert E. Smith (L)

A country that doesn’t control my children and allows them to grow into themselves. A place that brilliant ideas are buried for profit and greed holds back our technology.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Gulf war. I was 7 or so.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Wendy’s. 1.5 years

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Robert E. Smith (L)

The Ewok drumming on the storm trooper helmets in Return of the Jedi.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Trying to figure out why people still vote for authoritarian candidates that promise to use the law to legislate people they don’t like.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Robert E. Smith (L)

The governor should always listen to their constituents. The governor should never restrict free markets or personal liberty. Then their would be no problems.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Inflation and the fight to be free of government overreach. We have a very intrusive government that consistently fails us.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Robert E. Smith (L)

The state legislature is for anyone and all back grounds, period.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Yes, many.

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Emergency powers are usually always abused as has been demonstrated. The state can rarely be trusted we have plenty of examples to support the suspicion.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Robert E. Smith (L)

Compromise in some instances is fine, but what must not be compromised is personal liberty. I do not feel passing bills which restrict personal liberty is acceptable.

See also

More about these elections:

• Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2022

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