Statement on Missouri Agrees from former Jackson County Republican Committeeman and business owner David Brain:

When I was a GOP office holder in Jackson County and helped start the Missouri Young Republicans, a large majority of my fellow Republicans and I were excited to re-elect President Reagan, a unifying leader. These days however, with increasingly crowded primaries, Republican voters are not getting what we’re voting for.

Recent elections have proven this. In the 2016 Republican Gubernatorial primary, almost two-thirds of Republicans voted for someone other than Eric Greitens. Yet, under the rules of our current voting system, our disgraced former Governor clinched the nomination with less than 35% of the vote. Had it not been for a massive influx in outside spending, we might’ve suffered an even worse outcome in the 2022 Republican Senate primary, with Greitens holding on to 25% of primary voters by calling for the hunting of the other 75%. It’s clearly time for a change.

That’s why I’m supporting the Missouri Agrees campaign, which is seeking to solve the problem of crowded primaries by stopping unpopular candidates from gaming the system and undermining the will of the voters. To do this, Missouri Agrees is advocating for a small change in the way we vote: give voters the freedom to choose as many candidates as they want per office in each primary and general election, as opposed to being limited to choosing only one—very similar to how we already choose more than one candidate in school board elections. To clear up any confusion, the Missouri Agrees plan involves NO ranking, NO combined primaries, and NO delayed results. It is about adapting a simple, common sense model on a larger scale to protect the will of the majority, and it can yield much better outcomes.

It’s time we start building consensus around more unifying candidates and stop allowing our broken elections, and our state, to fall prey to divisive candidates who are not supported by a majority of voters.