The village of Innsbrook hosted regional and statewide election candidates for a town hall meeting with local voters at the Aspen Center Monday, July 16.Each candidate was given five minutes to speak to the gathered group, followed by a time for individual questions and answers.People also spoke for and against a proposed tax increase for the Warrenton and Wright City fire protection districts.Missouri’s primary election is Aug. 7. It will decide which candidate from each party moves on to the general election in November.Several candidates who spoke at Innsbrook are unopposed in the primary elections, but will have opponents from other parties in November. Other offices only have people from a single party running, and will therefore be decided in August.Below are candidates and issues specific to Warren County. Candidates for statewide offices and speakers for and against Prop A (“Right-to-Work”) will be detailed in a future issue of The Record.State senator, District 10Two candidates made their case for why they should be elected to Missouri’s Senate for District 10, which contains six counties.Incumbent Sen. Jeanie Riddle, a Republican, discussed her work in office and the legislation that has been passed over the last year.“We’ve had the best year ever since I’ve been in the Legislature,” Riddle said. “We did things like lower your personal income taxes. We fully funded the education foundation formula . . . these last two years in a row. We have begun addressing our infrastructure issues — our roads, our bridges, broadband internet.”Ayanna Shivers will challenge Riddle for office in the November election. She is running as a Democrat.Shivers, who grew up in Mexico, Mo., said she wants to preserve the spirit of the small-town community of her youth, and set aside partisan politics in order to help the people in her district.She elaborated, “I’m focusing on four things I believe are important to most people: education, health care, livable wages and safe communities.”State House representative, District 42Two Republicans and a Democrat are competing to take over the Missouri House seat being vacated by Rep. Bart Korman. The 42nd District represents Warrenton and Marthasville, as well as all of Montgomery County and part of St. Charles County.Jessica Catron, a Warrenton native running as a Republican, touted her legislative experience working as a staffer in Jefferson City.“I spent seven years working in the Missouri House of Representatives, running the offices of two state reps, so we had 70,000 constituents,” said Catron, who also worked for two House legislative committees.Also vying for the Republican nomination is Jeff Porter, who has been mayor of Montgomery City for 15 years. He explained his rural background and education in agricultural economics and agronomy.“I’m a guy who has a lot of experience with life events, I think that’s very important,” he said.Joseph Widner is the only Democrat running in the 42nd District. He is an attorney from a working class background, who formerly worked as an intern in Rep. Korman’s office. Widner said he opposes Right-to-Work and wants to reverse the drastic decrease of education funding.“You can’t defund education, and then cut the glass in half and say the glass is full,” Widner commented. “Two of the school districts in (District 42) are down to four-day school weeks, mainly because they don’t have the funds to run the buses five days a week.”State House representative, District 63The Missouri House seat for District 63 represents parts of Warren and St. Charles counties, including Wright City, Innsbrook, Foristell and Wentzville.Incumbent Rep. Bryan Spencer is seeking re-election as the sole Republican candidate. He said his decisions in office are heavily influenced by what voters in his district have to say.“We vote for people to go to Jeff City and Washington, D.C., and they play ‘I know best.’ They forget that they are supposed to listen to the people,” he said.The Democratic candidate for District 63 is Janet Kester, a scientist whose late husband, Ian, was a math teacher at Wright City High School.Kester expressed support for unions, and said she would rely on scientific information to address public health struggles such as the opioid crisis.“I have never run for office, I never had the faintest notion that I ever would,” said Kester. “But when I look around and see how many problems we have in this state, I can’t just stand by and hope that somebody else is going to make it better.”Carl-Herman Freese is running as a Libertarian. He worked as a security contractor for 30 years, and believes the only legitimate use of government authority is to protect the rights of the people. He also expressed a desire to improve the state’s public education system.“(For) 30 years I’ve been protecting people. I don’t see if I get elected that that’s going to change.”Presiding circuit judgeAttorneys Jason Lamb and Tim Joyce are seeking the top job of the 12th Circuit Court, which covers Warren, Montgomery and Audrain counties. They are both running as Republicans. Presiding Judge Wes Dalton is not seeking re-election.Lamb is the former prosecuting attorney of Audrain County. He stressed being tough, but fair-minded in enforcing the law.“When a citizen walks into that courtroom, they see that judge face to face. Every citizen deserves to feel and know that they’re going to be treated fairly.”Joyce is a former federal attorney and Warren County prosecuting attorney, and currently serves as the city attorney of Truesdale. He pitched that his experience with both civil and criminal cases qualifies him for the position, saying “The circuit judge spends about half his time with civil and domestic cases, and the other half with criminal cases.”Both judicial candidates expressed the important role of the presiding judge in helping control the costs of operating the court.Presiding county commissionerThe presiding commissioner represents all of Warren County and leads the three-person commission that controls the county government. Incumbent Roger Mauzy and Joe Gildehaus are seeking the Republican nomination for the office, while David Hubbard is unopposed as a Democrat.Mauzy was not able to attend the town hall meeting due to a family emergency.Gildehaus said his aim as presiding commissioner would be to partner with the cities and community groups in Warren County to encourage positive growth while maintaining small town values.“Warren County today is currently the third-fastest-growing county in Missouri,” he noted. “You can’t stop it, it’s coming. We need to work together, all of us . . . I promise you, I won’t be a stranger.”Hubbard, a Marine Corps veteran, made only a short statement, saying that if elected, he will do his best to investigate and address any issues that come before the commission.Recorder of deedsThe recorder of deeds office maintains the records of all real estate holdings and marriage licenses in Warren County. Incumbent Deborah Engemann is being challenged by Linda Gant in the Republican primary.“I feel that I am best suited for this position because of my experience already in the office, and I am dedicated to helping serve the public and take a people-first stance,” Engemann stated.Gant, meanwhile, has experience in multiple local government jobs, including in the recorder of deeds office, and currently is an administrative assistant for the Warrenton Fire Protection District. She said she wants to make changes to improve the efficiency of the office.Fire tax proposalsThe Warrenton and Wright City fire protection districts are seeking similar tax increases on the August ballot. Warrenton Fire is asking voters to approve a 37-cent property tax increase, while Wright City Fire is asking for 34 cents.Warrenton Fire is seeking to hire nine additional firefighters, while Wright City Fire hopes to preserve the jobs of six firefighters hired using a federal grant. Representatives of both districts said they have seen a long decline of volunteer firefighters that they once relied on, and that more professional firefighters are necessary for public safety.Opponents spoke against both tax increases. They said that while some tax increase might be justified, raising taxes by over 80 percent is too much. The districts should instead focus on improving inefficiencies and emphasize volunteer firefighters, they contended.