After a tumultuous first term, Rep. Jeremy Dean is seeking reelection to the Missouri House in Springfield's District 132. While the freshman Democratic representative was able to get conveyance legislation language on a Republican-sponsored bill, an inappropriate text message to a different Republican colleague resulted in an ethics investigation and being stripped of committee assignments.
Dean is confident that he can move past that to continue serving north Springfield. Before he can do so, however, he will go up against Republican nominee and longtime Springfield resident Russ Gosselin.
Despite being part of opposing parties, the two are similar in their careers, approaches to legislative cooperation and some priorities.
Dean, Gosselin have deep connections to District 132
Both candidates have
worked in the housing sector and have seen the barriers families face when it comes to trying to improve their lives.
Gosselin settled in Springfield after working with Convoy of Hope. He later founded the nonprofit Elevate Lives, which connects Springfield individuals and families with housing, mentorship, life skills and community support.
"With 19 years of real life experience, I want to get in the middle of that and help my colleagues up there, if elected, to really navigate through this so that we're really providing a safety net for people that need that," Gosselin said, adding that those he works with in north Springfield want to better their lives, "so they need a pathway out of poverty, a pathway into a better thriving life."
Gosselin has worked in affordable housing for about a decade. He's come to see north Springfield residents as more than clients and, if elected, will see them as more than just constituents.
"These are the people I care about so much. They're not 'those people,'" Gosselin said. "They're my friends, my neighbors, they're individuals that I care about. And I'm motivated not by a job, but rather because of caring and really love for north Springfield."
Dean is a lifelong Springfieldian and was previously the director of operations for Drew Lewis Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to help people become more self-sufficient. Part of the reason for Dean's initial run was what he saw in his experience with the nonprofit, in addition to seeing reduced public school funding and increased cost of living.
"I thought that with my background, specifically in the operations of that nonprofit, that I had an understanding of what Springfield was facing. And it's pretty common that if you look at what Springfield's facing, a lot of cities our size or bigger are facing very similar things. And so it's not isolated here," Dean said "And so I really wanted to take that and then just my advocacy for people up to Jefferson City to make sure the average person could have a voice up there."
Dean believes that he's able to represent the average person so well because he is one. In District 132, Dean said, the average age is 29, 60% of people are renting, and most have some college or a high school diploma. Dean is currently 29, a renter and his college career was derailed when he came back to Springfield to help his mother.
"I bring the actual perspective of a working person to that and knowing what we need. I think that brings a lot of weight to the table when you have somebody there that truly understands what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck and to be a working person in Springfield ..." Dean said. "I think it's just having that perspective of somebody who truly is what most of this district is, really important, and I'm proud to be that voice up there for them."
Collaboration, not division
Both candidates are also confident in their ability to work with people across the aisle.
Gosselin has spent his career in various fields, including construction, community development, faith-based spaces and retail. Throughout all of that, he's learned how best to work with others.
"I'm a collaborator. I'm not a divider, I'm a collaborator. The approach we've taken has been with others like-minded, working together, accomplishing exponentially more than what any one of us could do," Gosselin said. "Really in the House of Representatives, you've got to be a collaborator ... Even with you and 10 other people, there has to be 82 individuals that are going to agree on this. And so I've already got experience in working together with other people, finding common ground, getting things accomplished."
Dean said he has established relationships with people in the House during his first term and demonstrated the ability to work with those from outside his party. He doesn't think the inappropriate text message and the resulting fracas have impaired his ability to work with others, though he does acknowledge it caused some rifts.
"I wouldn't say that it's difficult at all to reach across the aisle, even to this day," Dean said. "I still have very good friends that sit on the other side of the aisle that I talk to, some of them going into the Senate this next year. I'm very proud of them for being able to win their primaries, and I look forward to working with them when I get back up there."
As a member of the minority party in the House, Dean is accustomed to fighting uphill battles.
"A lot of the times (Democrats in the House are) standing up and defending what we believe our constituents would really want, trying to bring balance back to the capital that's ran in the super-majority and every state office is held by a Republican," Dean said. "And so a lot of the times we're kind of rolling on what the Republicans want to do and just trying to make sure that we can bring some balance."
What are Jeremy Dean's legislative priorities?
During his time knocking doors, Dean has heard the same issues continually come up, including housing prices and support for public schools, both of which spurred him to run the first time.
"I went into the legislature focused on trying to make life easier for the average Missouri and the average Springfieldian, making jobs more accessible, better paying, better benefits, all of those things, supporting our brothers and sisters in labor and just making sure that we can have a better, more sustainable life in Springfield," Dean said.
Dean wants to ensure that public schools are fully funded and that teachers and students have what they need "to make sure that our next generation is as successful as possible." He also wants to "try to fight back as much as possible to the privatization and the sending of tax dollars to private schools."
In addition, Dean believes strongly in the freedom for people to live life as they want, "whether that's health care, who you love, the religion you practice, or what you do in your home, not the government's job to tell you" as well as defending the will of the voters.
He is opposed to Amendment 3, which would reinstate a ban on most abortions in Missouri, and in favor of Amendment 6, which would restrict legislators' ability to alter laws adopted through citizen-led petitions.
What are Russ Gosselin's legislative priorities?
Through talking with constituents and his time in Springfield, Gosselin has seen how people struggle to make a better life for themselves and their family.
As a representative, he says he would have an office in north Springfield where people can find and get help with resources that would help people reach their full potential, such as navigating health care agencies, job advancement that can lead to economic betterment, and obtaining sustainable, safe housing.
Some of those resources also assist in addressing the aspect of homelessness in Springfield, either through employment, mental health care or improving neighborhoods. Gosselin feels that those points will help bring back "a quality of life I think north Springfield is longing to get back to."
He also puts an emphasis on education not only as a path for upward social mobility but as a way to better the community.
"I want to work with public schools in such a way that we're seeing outcomes. I want to end up seeing what other ways in which we can get there because it's all about the kids," Gosselin said. "These are not just statistics for me. These are individuals who have hopes and dreams and futures, and I don't want their opportunities to be the size of a quarter. I want them as big as the sky."
Where do candidates stand on data centers, Flock?
Both Dean and Gosselin believe that decisions should be made at the local level when it comes to data centers, and that citizens need to have a full picture of both benefits and drawbacks.
"I think what needs to be our No. 1 focus is making sure that if (data centers) are coming here and the local governments are approving them, hopefully with the citizens' approval, that we have those basic guardrails at the state level to make sure that we're not depleting our natural resources and damaging our environment," Dean said.
Dean said he would be in support of basic regulations, such as for water usage and possible contamination risks as well as other environmental factors, on a state level regarding data centers.
Gosselin called on people in leadership to provide the public a full understanding of data centers' impact, because "until you get to be honest about it and not just the hype about things, we can't end up looking at it appropriately."
"I tell people (data centers are) the current next shiny object in front of us. There are things about it that, like with anything else, there's people that say it's going to be amazing, we're going to end up having tax revenue, all those kinds of things," Gosselin said. "But common sense is always this: We have to look at the pros and cons about things and then, with that, determine what is the best way to move forward?"
Dean and Gosselin also both have concerns about automated license plate readers such as Flock, especially as it pertains to these systems encroaching on freedoms and infringing on citizens' rights to privacy.
"At the end of the day, it's the United States of America and we value our privacy, we value our rights a lot," Dean said.
He believes that there need to be more regulations in place regarding privacy, how the data is used, when it's accessed and what is needed to access it. He also called for greater transparency in the event of violations so that the public can hold local authorities accountable.
Gosselin, who said he is all for the police having "the abilities to get the bad guys," also feels that there need to be balances and protections in place, such as search warrants and the Fourth Amendment.
How much money has each campaign raised?
Dean and Gosselin are relatively even when it comes to campaign contributions, based on reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The October quarterly report filed by both indicates that since the start of this election cycle, Dean has raised about $41,400, while Gosselin has raised $41,945.
Top contributors to Dean's campaign since the start of the year include:
- $2,000 — ASHPAC ($2,250), PROMO PAC, Teamsters 245 PAF, Missouri and Kansas Laborers' PAC, Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council - Missouri-Kansas Area PAC;
- $1,500 — Kris Barefield of Springfield; Greene County Democratic Central Committee ($1,330);
- $1,000 — Steven Stone of St. Louis, Randy Alberhasky of Springfield, Art Kessler of Battlefield ($750);
Dean also received monetary support this year from notable Springfield donors such as Missouri state representatives Connie Steinmetz, Raymond Reed and Marla Smith, who contributed $250, $100, and $50, respectively; CEO of the Drew Lewis Foundation Amy Blansit, who contributed $245; Springfield City Council members Craig Hosmer and Bruce Adib-Yazdi, who contributed $350 and $100, respectively; former Missouri House Minority Leader and current Executive Director of Downtown Springfield Association Crystal Quade, who donated $100; and GLO Center Executive Director Aaron Schekorra, who donated $25.
The campaign has also received contributions from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Club ($850), SEIU HealthCare Missouri PAC ($665) Missouri AFL-CIO COPE ($500), SMART TD PAC ($500), Missouri Realtors PAC Inc. ($500), Dade Co. Democratic Club ($500), PAC TO THE FUTURE ($250), and Missouri Optometric Association PAC ($250).
Top contributors to Gosselin's campaign since the start of this year include:
- $6,000 — Maryam Mohammadkhani;
- $4,000 — Missouri Leadership PAC;
- $3,000 — Real Action PAC;
- $2,500 — 964 PAC;
- $2,000 — Mark Wheeler of Bois d'Arc, Billy Kimmons of Springfield, Greene County Republican Central Committee, Legio XIII PAC, Another Viceroy PAC, Paladin PAC;
- $1,300 — Brandon Wooley of Republic;
- $1,000 — Putting People First PAC, Max Sharshakov of Springfield, Curtis Jared of Springfield.
Gosselin also received monetary support from notable Springfield donors such as District 134 Rep. Alex Riley, who contributed $500.
The campaign also received contributions from MBWA PAC ($750), Shelter Insurance Missouri PAC White River Leadership PAC ($500), and LOZ Missouri Pac ($673).
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Incumbent Dean faces Gosselin for Springfield's District 132 seat
