Adrian Plank vies for Democratic nomination in third run for Missouri 47th District seat
In making a third run for the 47th District of the Missouri House of Representatives, Democrat Adrian Plank faces different circumstances than during his previous two campaigns.
He has a Columbia address, but he lives two miles from the historic Bur Oak tree.
His previous general election opponent Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, is term-limited and therefore not running this time. The district has been redrawn so that it's all within Boone County, and Democrats have a slight advantage with the new boundaries.
Also unlike in previous campaigns, he has a primary opponent. Fellow Democrat Chimene Schwach also is running for the position.
The winner of the Aug. 2 primary will face Republican John Martin in the Nov. 8 general election.
The demographics of the new district indicate its population is 50% Democratic and 46% Republican. In northwest Boone County, the district includes Harrisburg, Rocheport, most of Columbia's Fourth Ward and a small part of the Fifth Ward.
Plank, 49, is a union journeyman. He owned his own business for 10 years, but what he called the "Bush Republican recession" of 2008 ended that.
"It put a lot of small businesses out of business, and mine was one of them," Plank said.
His business didn't receive the bailouts that large banks did, he said.
It's why he became involved in politics and why he's running this time, he said.
He began campaigning for other candidates before running himself.
With the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade and Missouri ending women's abortion rights, it's a hot-button issue in the primary and general election campaign.
"The first thing we need to do is eliminate super PACs and outside money" to restore the abortion rights of Missouri women, he said.
The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision set the tone in a ruling he said determined the more money a person has, the more speech a person has.
"You have to understand why we're here and how we got here," Plank said.
Basye and other Republicans during the more recent legislative session have raised issues including claiming that schools are teaching Critical Race Theory and seeking to ban transgender girls from participating in girls sports.
"I see the efforts as grandstanding," Plank said.
They're narratives created by right-wing media, he said. Republicans are using the term Critical Race Theory to demonize and suppress history.
"We need to acknowledge all aspects of history," Plank said.
The proposal to ban trans girls from girls sports in public schools is another issue Republicans use to divide, he said.
"Every student deserves an opportunity to play public education sports," Plank said. "As a government official, you need to represent everyone."
How does he distinguish himself from Schwach while maintaining party unity?
"We have an opportunity to turn the district blue," Plank said. "Now there is no accountability at the statehouse. Zero. I got 43% of the vote in a red district. My commitment to the 47th is second to none. There's not anybody in the state who's done more to help Democratic candidates."
It's important for Democrats to remain united, he said.
"If we're not working together as a team, you're bound to fail," Plank said.
Should he not be successful in the primary, he said he would tell people to vote for Schwach.
Plank is leading in fundraising so far. He had $16,337 on hand eight days before the election and $31,479 in receipts for the campaign.
He received $1,000 donations from former candidate Kari Chesney, Teamsters Local Union 541 PAC and the Sheet Metal Workers PAC. He got $2,000 donations from the Missouri and Kansas Laborers PAC and the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council.
As a union carpenter, he has the support of labor unions and he supports them, he said.
Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Adrian Plank faces a primary challenge in his third campaign
