District 2 state rep candidates highlight their goals

Oct. 27—Republican candidate Mazzie Boyd is vying to be among the youngest Missouri state representatives while her Democratic opponent Lois Pontius could be one of the oldest.

The two women are running for the District 2 seat, which covers Caldwell, Daviess, Grundy, Harrison and Worth counties.

Boyd is a 23-year-old north Missouri native who comes from a long line of family farmers, with her being the fifth generation. She is also a Missouri Western State University graduate.

"I grew up in Northwest Missouri and I was fairly interested in politics but really got involved honestly in 2020," Boyd said. That was when I started to work for President Trump on his reelection campaign and then was quickly brought over to work at the White House with him and presidential personnel."

Following her work at the White House, Boyd began working for Marjorie Taylor Greene before returning home to Northwest Missouri.

"I wanted to come back home and run for office because I was kind of tired. Tired of what was going on in Jefferson City, or the lack of what was going on," Boyd said.

Pontius is an 81-year-old Ridgeway, Missouri, resident. She and her husband both are fourth-generation Northwest Missouri farmers and they have two children.

"I have more than 30 years experience as a tax professional," Pontius said. "If I get this position, I hope to be able to work on Missouri's tax structure."

Pontius also has worked as a math teacher at Missouri Valley College. She said her work in many different areas throughout her life makes her a good candidate.

"I've been concerned about the direction Missouri has been going," Pontius said. "I want to get back to the Harry Truman days in which the state government was for the people."

Boyd said she wants to be a state representative for District 2 because she believes in life, liberty and protecting freedoms.

"With that, that, of course, is protecting our Second Amendment rights, protecting the lives of the unborn and also protecting our property," Boyd said. "That is something that I am excited to take down with me to Jefferson City."

Pontius said she wants to be elected to be a voice for the people.

"I just want to serve the people of Missouri and I want to serve the common people because I came from a common background and I want to serve my people the same," Pontuis said. "I have several ideas as to how I can represent the people better than how the state legislature is at the current time."

Both Boyd and Pontius have many goals if elected the state representative for District 2.

"If I'm elected, I want to work on the child-care industry. I want to help cut the red tape in these businesses. I want to work on protecting our children," Boyd said. "Another thing, I want to work on is protecting our Second Amendment rights. We don't need Biden coming in and trying to tell us what gun rights we need to do. We also need to protect our law enforcement and make sure that they are funded well and that they're also protected."

Pontius is focused on finances and infrastructure.

"I want to restructure our Missouri income tax rates schedule to make it a fairer, a more progressive rate schedule," Pontius said. "We need to latch on to what the federal government is doing with their restructure acts that they passed to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, especially out here in rural Missouri. The roads and bridges need a lot of work. I think we need to have more funding for public education and that should include preschool, post-high-school and technical training."

However, she agrees with Boyd on at least one issue.

"I do support the Second Amendment. I think for guns we should have different kinds of licensing and proof just like we do for motor vehicles," Pontius said.

Boyd said her youthfulness is one of the qualities that make her the best candidate for District 2.

"I bring different ideas to the table," Boyd said. "Most people that are older than me have similar ideas, they had similar experiences, whereas I bring something different to the table."

Pontius said her life experiences make her a well-rounded candidate.

"I don't have any political experience so no one can accuse me of being a career politician," Pontius said. "But I have a lot of life experience, a lot more life experience than younger people that are running for office. All my tax professional experience and having a master's degree has given me a general education that can help a lot."

Boyd said the campaign process has been good yet stressful.

"I've been honestly super blessed to be able to meet people and really learn what concerns them," Boyd said. "I think far too long people go down to Washington, D.C. or Jefferson City, they run on their own platform and they come back home and nobody cares about those things. They forget the people that elected them and I don't want to forget that."

Pontius said she has been pleasantly surprised by her experience.

"I know my opponent's aspiration is to be the youngest legislator in Missouri and I feel a little guilty about trying to take that away from her, but not that guilty," Pontius said. "I might want to be the oldest legislator. But overall, it's been going well because I've had more campaign contributions than I expected."

Sara Rooney can be reached at sara.rooney@newspressnow.com.