All eight candidates for contested Cole County offices on next Tuesday's ballot spent more than two hours at Lincoln University Thursday night, explaining their candidacies and answering questions.
About 150 LU students and community members attended the Student Government Association forum in the Thomas D. Pawley Theatre, applauding many of the candidates' answers, but also voicing displeasure at some.
Circuit Judge
Much of the audience's attention was focused on the race between Republican Brian Stumpe and incumbent Circuit Judge Pat Joyce, a Democrat.
Both talked about the importance of raising a family in the community.
Stumpe mentioned the extra challenges of growing up with a blind father and losing his mother to cancer when he was 15.
Joyce recalled her early days as a lawyer, working with Legal Services and providing assistance to people with little or no access to the justice system.
Several in the audience questioned Stumpe's connection with the number of "attack ad" postcards from the Republican State Leadership Committee's Missouri Political Action Committee - and challenged his answer, when he said, "I have run no attack ads, myself."
He explained: "Everything I've put out has been advertised about myself, but you cannot control third-party money.
"You can't tell them what to do and what not to do."
Joyce didn't discuss details of campaign advertising but, when asked if Cole County should be added to the state's Nonpartisan Court Plan, that covers the appeals and Supreme Courts, and trial-level courts in the St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield areas, she said: "Our Missouri Plan is known nationwide as about the best plan in the nation to select judges.
"If nothing else, this election has shown me - and should have shown the voters - that that is a good plan for our county ... and I would personally vote for it."
Prosecuting Attorney
Incumbent Republican Mark Richardson and challenger Anji Gandhi, a former assistant prosecutor running as an Independent, both talked about their experiences in the prosecuting attorney's office and how important it is to the safety of county and area residents.
If re-elected, Richardson wants to continue the office's "no-refusal policy" that seeks search warrants from judges when people suspected of driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs refuse to give a test voluntarily.
Gandhi repeated her hope to restore a second victim's advocate in the office, to work with victims who weren't involved in a sexual assault or domestic violence crime.
In response to a question, both said the death penalty is a tool prosecutors need in some cases.
"I feel it is absolutely necessary that we have that as a punishment," Richardson said. "I do think it is effective to help other people live."
Gandhi added: "I will say that it should be reserved for the smallest minority of cases."
And she hopes lawmakers and the courts can resolve "problems with its implementation."
County Clerk
Democrat Susan Cook talked about how her civic-minded parents got her interested in the political system.
"Voting is a passion for me," she told the audience. "Being a graduate student at Lincoln, I've often heard students say voting doesn't matter. So I decided it was time to run to change that way of thinking."
Cook believes the clerk's race is actually the most important race on the ballot. "You're responsible for assigning polling locations and training workers so that voters don't waste time when they vote," she said.
"You have to give them confidence that their vote does matter."
If elected, Cook said she would work to make polling locations more convenient, and would do more to promote people's right to vote, "whether it's through getting out more in communities or working through social media like Facebook."
Republican Steve Korsmeyer said his background as a business owner helps him meet the county clerk's qualifications.
"I truly love dealing with the public," he said. "Being a small business owner, you have to do the payroll, bookkeeping and so many other tasks. I'd have to do these same duties if I were elected to this office."
Korsmeyer would work to update the clerk's website more frequently.
"I love working with computers and we need to get more information out to the public," he said. "Better updating of the minutes from what happens in the County Commission would help the public know what's going on, because so many don't right now."
In response to a student's question, Korsmeyer said he'd look at putting a polling place on the LU campus, but thought the McClung Park Pavilion was close enough for students wanting to vote.
Cook said putting a polling place on the Lincoln campus would be an important change.
Recorder of Deeds
Republican Ralph Bray told the crowd he felt he had been preparing for this job for 34 years, with his career as an historic architect with the state.
"I know how to handle historic documents and that would help me with this job," he told the forum audience. "I've supervised staffs and know how to properly preserve documents."
Timely access to records is one of Bray's goals.
"I would be dedicated to providing regular business hours in this office," he said. "I will work to evaluate the best possible ways to make information available."
Incumbent Democrat Larry Rademan said his office has had no issues with making permanent records available for the public.
"We work with banks, abstract companies and real estate offices, and they tell us we have an excellent set of records," he told the crowd.
Rademan said the office's annual audits all have "been perfect for my 19 years in office. I hired the staff. We've issued over 15,000 marriage licenses. They know what they're doing."
Rademan said if he wins his bid for a sixth four-year term, it will be his last term as recorder of deeds.