By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostFour Democrats vie for the party nomination in the Tuesday primary,
each hoping to be the candidate to take on Republican Congressman Sam Graves in
the General Election.College professor Gena Ross of Platte City contends Graves
complains a lot about how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri
River, but doesn’t do anything about it.“Business as usual is no longer acceptable,” Ross tells host
Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “It affects everybody. And just to sit there
and not say anything or do anything about it or sweep stuff under the rug; if
the Army Engineer Corps aren’t doing anything about it, stay on them, hold them
accountable and make them do their job.”Ross says education, health care, and infrastructure are big
issues in this campaign.Clark County School Board member Charles West, who works for a
Canton construction company, opposes the move to defund the police, though he
asserts there is too much police abuse.“There does need to be a lot of reform when it comes to that,
but defunding the police, no,” West tells Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “We need to
have our police. That’s our law and order. Even though a lot of things we see
aren’t right, that’s why I think there needs to be some new training coming on.”West sees four main issues in the campaign:&nbsp; education, infrastructure, health care, and
jobs.Educator and high school coach Henry Martin of Kansas City
says he chose to run as a Democrat, because the party accepts people as they
are.“The United States is not a powerful country, because of our
military and because of our freedoms,” Martin tells Birr on the Hotline. “Our
real strength is in our diversity. The diversity of our nation gives us a unique
perspective on the rest of the world.”Martin, an Army veteran, emphasizes infrastructure, stating
every dollar spent on infrastructure returns a $1.50 to $2.50 to the economy.Donald Sartain, a former trucker from St. Joseph, has run as a
Republican in the past, but switched parties to run in this race.“I do largely support President Trump’s agenda,” Sartain tells
Birr during his appearance on the Hotline. “The Republican Party, however, has historically
desired to deplete the working class’ social safety net put in place by very
hard effort.”Sartain calls himself a conservative-leaning populist.There is a 5th name on the ballot, but Ramona
Farris suspended her campaign.

Four Democrats running to challenge Congressman Graves this fall