Dave Raithel is campaigning again for the Missouri House District 44 seat he sought two years ago.
But unlike in 2022, there is no incumbent in his way.
Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch, a Republican from Hallsville, is barred by term limits from running again for the seat she first won in 2016.
This time around Raithel faces Republican John Martin, a Boone County businessman who also unsuccessfully sought a House seat two years ago.
A longtime Boone County resident and Army veteran, Raithel chose to run again on many of the same principles that motivated him in 2022. For Raithel, defending democratic ideals is a main concern heading into this election cycle.
While living in Boone County, Raithel has found work as a bass player, truck driver and teacher in both Columbia Public Schools and the University of Missouri. He worked for five years at MU and received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the university.
Raithel, who turned 69 on Thursday, faces new challenges during his current run. In January, his doctors diagnosed him with heart disease. When deciding whether to proceed with his bid, Raithel’s wife encouraged him to continue with what he set out to do. For him, that was enough to stay in the race.
“My knees hurt more when I go door-knocking than my heart or my chest,” Raithel said in regard to the diagnoses.
At the top of all of his campaign fliers, Raithel pronounces himself a “pro-choice gun owner.” Raithel said he put these two issues at the top of the flier because he believes they are still the two primary issues dividing Boone County.
“You can be a gun owner and be pro-choice, and you can be a gun owner and believe that firearms ought to be regulated much better than they are as of late,” he said.
Raithel said he would regulate guns less than many other Democrats would. He did note that if some regulations, such as red flag laws and universal background checks, were not put in place, more drastic measures would be needed.
Overall, Raithel emphasizes a need to fully fund education, infrastructure and sustainable agriculture practices — and he says the only way to do that is to stop cutting taxes.
“Missouri cannot keep cutting taxes and sustain adequate social services and public schools,” he said. “The reason Missouri keeps cutting taxes is because the Republicans have nothing to offer anyone except tax cuts.”
Rural development is also an area of emphasis for Raithel. If elected, Raithel would have one of the largest rural constituencies of any Democrat in the Missouri House. He would like to see broadband internet brought to all of Boone County and other parts of rural Missouri.
This would also mean supporting agriculture in the state and limiting the expansion of cities into greenspaces. Raithel has previously worked as a truck driver for Patchwork Family Farms and grew grapes at a vineyard — he said he is partial to Norton wines.
Raithel has been viewed as an outsider candidate by some. He has described himself at various times as a New Deal Democrat, Democratic Socialist and “Bernie Bro.”
“The people who have done the most (for my campaign) are the local central committee volunteers,” Raithel said. “These are the people who never run for office because they don’t want to run for office … but they do believe in democratic values.”
Raithel said he is not connected to people with lots of money within the Democratic Party. Just less than half of Raithel’s campaign money has come from a $10,000 loan he gave to the campaign. The remainder of the money has largely come from individual donations.
“I am more like the people who wind up voting Democrat and more like the people who are in the central committee doing the grunt work than I am like the Democratic (Party) establishment,” he said.
Earlier this summer, Raithel was arrested on misdemeanor assault charges while getting into an argument at the Anchor Festival in Centralia. He has not been charged.
This year Raithel began the grunt work of knocking on doors one month later than in 2022. Raithel said he has taken more of a focus on mailing letters and fliers to voters during this run, especially those who live in locations that are difficult to access while knocking on doors.
His goal of knocking on 500 doors a month would allow him to reach the 3,000-door mark he achieved in his 2022 run. Raithel said he is confident that he will reach this 3,000-door goal by Election Day.
Raithel estimates he needs to flip approximately 3,200 votes to win in November. While this might seem like a lofty goal, one of his motivations for entering the election was not just winning. He says that his run is about a larger Democratic Party strategy in the state.
“The Democratic Party cannot rebuild itself in Missouri, especially in the House, unless we oppose Republicans in every jurisdiction,” he said.
The district will have a similar makeup to the last time Raithel ran. He said that his campaign’s success this year hinges on Amendment 3, which would restore abortion rights to the state. Raithel supports the amendment and said he would try to protect the measure in the House should he be elected.
“I don’t win in the 44th unless Amendment 3 wins in the 44th and everyone remembers to vote down ballot for me,” Raithel said.
