Republicans name 151st Dist. special election candidate

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. --The Stoddard County Republican Central Committee voted Tuesday night to select its candidate for the upcoming Aug. 5 Special Election for the 151st Missouri House District.

Approximately 30 people turned out for the meeting in the County Commission Chambers in the Stoddard County Government Building at Bloomfield where Tila Rowland-Hubrecht was selected as the Republican nominee.

Of the 30 individuals, two were selected as candidates for consideration by the committee. Rowland-Hubrecht, a nurse and former teacher from Dexter, and Amanda Brooks, of Advance, each participated in an interview process that lasted approximately one hour.

Central Committee Chairman Wayne Jean called the meeting to order and then immediately explained the detailed process by which selection would take place.

Each candidate had to be nominated by a committee member, and that nomination required a second.

At that point, a coin was flipped by Stoddard County Commissioner Danny Talkington to determine which candidate could choose whether to go first or second. Brooks won the toss and elected to go second.

Each candidate was then given approximately five minutes to introduce themselves to the committee before being asked a series of similar questions.

Rowland-Hubrecht identified herself as a Dexter native who graduated from Richland High School.

She attended Southeast Missouri State University where she earned a bachelors degree in education.

After college, she returned to Stoddard County where she worked as a teacher in Bloomfield for six years. She then taught at Dexter for a couple of years before feeling drawn to a new career in her early 30s.

Rowland now works as an RN Assessment Coordinator for long-term care.

"I deal with Medicare and Medicaid all day," she said. "This daily involvement has given me a new insight into the problems facing us. I strive to give our district a strong voice when representing. That will be foremost in conducting our business."

Brooks introduced herself as being from Advance and the oldest of four siblings. An Advance High School graduate, she was raised on a farm with cattle, pigs, chicken and horses.

"Tonight, you're getting the personal side of me," she said, noting her blue jeans and cowboy boots. "I'm used to hard work. This morning I was out hauling hay with my dad."

She explained that she comes from a family where she was the first to graduate from college, but always had a respect for how her grandfathers--neither of whom made it past the eighth grade -- grew up during the Great Depression.

Brooks attended Murray State University where she studied Animal Science and has held various jobs in agriculture, animal science, sales and crop insurance.

"I don't know the Constitution as well as I should, but I know we have freedoms that are being run over," Brooks said. "[President Barack Obama] has got his pen and his phone and he's going to do things."

Following is a brief recap of the candidates' responses to questions regarding several key issues.

Common Core

Rowland-Hubrecht, a former educator, came out strong against Common Core standards in education.

"Our local educators are not in support of Common Core and I will have to stand against it," she said. "They're the people on the front lines and they know what they're doing."

Brooks acknowledged that Common Core standards had not been her chief focus over the past year, with more attention being given to the lack of a farm bill, however, she did come out against the education program as well.

"I'm friends with some teachers and educators," she said. "I've been focused on the farm bill, but the things I'm hearing about Common Core are not favorable."

Right to Work

Rowland-Hubrecht acknowledged that she sees Right to Work legislation as a necessity in Missouri.

"We're competing against states that already have Right to Work in place," she said. "We don't want to lose businesses like Noranda. This is one of their only plants in a non-Right to Work start. I want our businesses to be able to grow and provide more jobs to our people."

Brooks was also troubled by the fact that Missouri does not have Right to Work legislation in place.

"With the neighboring states we have to compete with, I don't understand how Missouri cannot be a Right to Work state," Brooks said.

Welfare drug testing

Both candidates came out in favor of drug-testing welfare recipients.

Rowland-Hubrecht stated that she deals in government regulations and assistance programs every day with her line of employment.

"If you're taking government money, you should be willing to abide by any government regulations," she said. "That's just the way the ball bounces."

Brooks also stated that she is in full favor of such a program among recipients of all types of government assistance.

"If you are receiving something from the government in that capacity, you should be willing to submit to a test for drugs," she told the committee.

Obamacare

While Brooks was not questioned in regard to the Affordable Care Act, Rowland-Hubrecht spoke quite extensively on the subject when questioned.

"I'm still struggling through Obamacare and how it affects the elderly since that's who I work with," she said.

The problem, she explained, is with what she called a "one-size fits all" mentality.

"That just doesn't work with health care," Rowland-Hubrecht said. "For example, we had a resident fall, who required hip surgery. I had to tell her that insurance wasn't going to be able to pay for her to stay."

Regardless of the battle, she said she is ready to stand and fight.

"I've been around the block, and I can handle the ridicule," Rowland-Hubrecht said. "My skin is thick."

At the end of the meeting, Chairman Jean said the committee was proud of both candidates.

"I thought we had two great candidates here tonight," Jean said. "That was unanimous from all of us. I think the future of the Republican Party is bright here in Stoddard County."

Jean pledged the support of the party behind Rowland-Hubrecht for the upcoming special election.

The Stoddard County Democrat Central Committee is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 to get the process underway for selection of their candidate.

cnoles@dailystatesman.com