Bush, Basinger square off in Democratic primary for Missouri’s 50th district

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A new candidate will represent Missouri's 50th District in the state house next year.

Gregg Bush and Jeff Basinger will face off in the Democratic primary on Aug. 6 for the chance to run against Republican Joshua Blakeman, who is running unopposed in the Republican primary.

The seat is open after Rep. Doug Mann (D-Columbia) announced last year that he would not seek reelection, citing mental health concerns. The district includes much of south Columbia and areas of Boone County that border the city on the south and east.

Bush is looking to be the only nurse in the Missouri House. He believes that the experience he has in nursing can help make him an effective leader in Jefferson City. His campaign focuses on health care access, gun control, supporting education and supporting unions and small businesses.

“People see me sometimes on the worst day of their life. And nurses, we have to take care of the patient in front of us. We're advocates. Again, being a med-surg (medical-surgical) nurse, you start off... kind of start off with one patient. And then being a charge nurse, you're advocating for a whole floor, and then being in leadership, I’m advocating for a whole system. Nurses are professional rapport builders,” Bush said. “Those are skills that actually serve legislators really well, listening to people and making sure that they're you never forget that there's another person on the other side of every encounter."

Basinger is a lifelong Missouri resident who is a trial attorney, small business owner and civil rights activist. His platform focuses on healthcare access, financial relief for the working class, better pay for teachers, gun control and government accountability.

Basinger said he’s running because “Extremism and political theater have ruled Missouri politics for years. I want this to be a place where people want to work, study, live. So hopefully I can make things better.

Bush agreed with Basinger that extremism has played a role in Missouri politics, especially in regards to laws surrounding abortion. Missouri became the first state to ban abortions in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court.

“We don't need extremist politicians in the exam room dictating what kind of a care woman decides for herself and for her family,” Bush said.

Both Democratic candidates support access to abortion.

“Oh, we need to get every single voter out in November and we need to pass this reproductive rights amendment,” Basinger said. You know, only 22% of people last I saw supported these trigger laws that don't even have exceptions for rape or incest. So we need to pass this amendment. I assume that the 380,000 signatures are going to be approved and it's going to be on there, and that's where I want to see it.

Both candidates support some form of gun control.

“We do have really, really lax gun laws here. I am a gun-sense candidate. I believe that we do need to have more regulations, make sure that we get illegal guns off the street, and to make sure that individuals who have firearms are storing them properly,” Bush said. “Right now, there's prohibitions on physicians even, you know, asking and talking about this. This is a public safety issue. The American Nurses Association has been advocating for this for 20 years to try to make sure that we start saving people's lives. Children are being killed with firearms in the home, sometimes, oftentimes accidentally."

“You know, we need to communicate to Missourians that this is not about taking people's guns away. They are having a hard time even getting heard in a debate in the legislature right now. And so to get heard on a bill is really in the Republicans' hands,” Basinger said. “If you can pass one reasonable gun law, without having something silly in return, you're doing well. So things like safe storage, things like background checks, loophole closings, concealed carry permits, you know, that's something that you get basic training and take it as a responsible act to own a gun."

Both candidates are also focusing on healthcare and believe more can be done in the state. Bush focused on employee pay, lack of health care access in rural areas and some red tape involving Medicare, while Basinger stated Missouri doesn’t have much support for social services, as a whole.

“We really do have social service problems across the board. You know, we are one of the lowest in the nation as far as what we spend per person. We're down near the bottom in healthcare spending. We're down near the bottom in social service spending across the board,” Basinger said. “I mean, how you fix that is going to be tough. I think that for me, it starts with sales tax because that's going to help the most people. So things like food, things like childcare, where lots of people have need and it's going to help lots of people cut taxes there.”

“I mean, look, mental health that they haven't been able to process all of the Medicaid paperwork. Why is that? Is there not enough investment there? We have some of the lowest-paid state employees in the country,” Bush said. “So that's one part. The other part in terms of education is there's going to need to be, again, like I said, some really difficult choices. There's these rural districts are going to be getting a little payment, but we don't know where that money is going to come from yet."

Both candidates addressed similar idea to issues around homelessness. Both referred to utilizing services, but Basinger reinterred points about the state’s lack of social services, while Bush stated that solutions start with people treating the homeless better.

“Homelessness is a huge problem and I think that it starts with making sure there's not an irresponsible tax code like cutting income taxes entirely and losing another $10 billion,” Basinger said. “You have to find a way to get affordable housing. One thing that there's been some emphasis on is giving people tax credits for saving for houses so you can increase that type of thing, making sure their shelters.”

“Chronic homelessness, particularly among our veterans, takes a different kind of intervention. We actually have to find them services, get them into programs and things,” Bush said. “I'm so glad that we have the V.A. here, make sure that they have access to those substance abuse, if that's required, or mental illness. What we don't want to do is like treat them as if they are outcasts in our society. These are our neighbors.”

You can listen to the full interview with Greg Bush here .

You can listen to the full interview with Jeff Basinger here .

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