Donald Stolle loves serving his country.
Stolle, 32, served his country once before as a cavalry scout in the U.S. Army. Now, he wants to serve in Congress as the representative of Missouri's 3rd District.
"I don't feel like people's voices are being heard," Stolle said. "No one is being honest in politics anymore."
A resident of Arnold, Stolle hopes to give working-class people and non-political types a voice. He dreams of getting money out of politics.
If Stolle wins, he wants to figure out why divisive politics seem to be tearing the country apart. Stolle has no previous political experience and has never run for political office.
During his eight years in the Army, he served in Hawaii and Alaska outside of his combat tours. From 2008-09, he served a tour of duty in Iraq, and from 2011-12 he served in Afghanistan. Now, Stolle is medically retired from the Army and occasionally suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.
Previously, he attended St. Louis Community College. This spring, he plans to attend Jefferson Community College. Stolle said he's still taking entry-level classes but might major in business.
Two years ago, he married his wife, Jessica. The couple has one son, Tristan, 6, and two daughters, Harmony, 8, and Caitlyn, 2.
Stolle is running a grassroots campaign mostly on social media, using a Facebook page market his candidacy. He said he does not want to interfere too much in voters' lives throughout his campaign.
"I try not to be invasive in their lives," he said. "If they really wanted to know politics, they would already know who is running where."
If elected, Stolle said, he wants to work with members of both parties. He used the Affordable Care Act as an example of an issue on which he wishes Republicans and Democrats would work closer together.
Stolle does not favor a Medicare-for-all system like the one proposed last year by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, because of the costs associated with starting such a system. He said he does not like the Affordable Care Act but that Congress should refrain from repealing the bill until fixes to the ACA can be made.
In recent years, Stolle said, members of Congress lost the decorum and prestige the legislative body once held. These days, members of Congress seem afraid to work together on issues like the ACA, he said.
"This isn't a one-size-fits-all kind of answer," Stolle said. "The Affordable Care Act kind of seems one-size-fits-all, which leaves out so much on the periphery. It's not taking care of everybody the correct way."
Stolle does not support raising the federal minimum wage because he believes doing so could lead to faster inflation. He supports medical marijuana laws because he believes marijuana is not more harmful than tobacco or alcohol. Medical marijuana also could help veterans with PTSD, Stolle said.
He also said he wants to remove red-tape regulations around firearms and keep common-sense gun laws that make guns safe for users.
Stolle knows it will be hard to unseat five-term incumbent Blaine Luetkemeyer, the Republican from St. Elizabeth who has held the 3rd District's seat since 2009. He also faces Democratic candidate Katy Geppert.
People tend to not recognize third parties, Stolle said. Still, he added, the Tea Party movement of the late 2000s and recent splits in the Republican and Democratic parties could give third-party candidates broader audiences for their voices.
"I figure third party, Democrats get 40 percent, Republicans get 40 percent, a third party gets 20 percent," he said. "Either way, that still makes a third party relevant because whichever side of the issue it is on, we will make up the deciding vote."