Republican Ed Callahan and Democrat David Rekosh are seeking the House District 112 seat in the Nov. 3 election.
District 112 includes Imperial and Barnhart.
This seat has been held by Renee Reuter since 2023, who recently won the Division 12 associate circuit judge race in the Aug. 4 election.
House representatives are paid an annual salary of $41,770 and serve two-year terms.
The Leader did not receive Callahan’s candidate survey.
Rekosh, 48, of Barnhart is a member of Electrical Workers Local 1. He graduated from Francis Howell High School and earned a bachelor of science degree from Lindenwood University. He is married to Erin and has four children.
Why should voters elect you and what are your goals if elected?
Rekosh: They should elect me because I believe in representing the will of the voters while respecting the Constitution. Personal views or political influence should not have more weight on policy than the will of the people. I want to make Missouri work for the citizens by improving education, access to healthcare and forcing companies that collect our data to protect it and restrict how they can use it. This is already a concern, and with the expansion of AI, it will become a bigger issue in the future, so we have to get in front of it to prevent abuse.
In light of recent elections, many voters contend Missouri’s state legislatures are following their own political agendas, rather than listening to the will of the people, citing Amendments 4 and 5 as the most recent example of a seeming disconnect between legislators and residents. Do you agree or disagree with that assessment?
Rekosh: I fully agree with the sentiment that Missouri government is going against the will of the people. Missouri has been fighting the will of the people repeatedly in recent history. This happened when we blocked right-to-work legislation in 2017, and they continue to pre-file it yearly so they can try again when political environments are favorable to its passing. Amendment 4 was a direct response to the legalization of marijuana and Amendment 3 from 2024. They did not like the people of Missouri going around legislature to get what they wanted, so they tried to stop it in the future. The beginning of the Amendment 3 ballot title for this November says, “Repeal the 2024 voter-approved amendment…” which says everything it needs to say.
A common topic of legislative reform concerns tightening the requirements for citizen-led initiative petitions. Would you support reforming IP? What sort of reforms would you support?
Rekosh: I will start by saying no, I do not support reforming the IP process. I understand how there can be imperfect legislation brought to a vote when it is done by people who are not lawyers or legislators, but those can be adjusted or corrected; they should not be blocked.
