My Journey Begins Here

My name is Travis Hagewood, I am a Autoworker/ Realtor in the Blue Springs, Missouri area. I would like to tell you what made me decide to run for Missouri State Representative in the 31st District (Blue Springs). 

I have never been a super political person, and quite frankly never had much interest in politics. I was just a struggling member of the working middle-class. I felt like, with the electoral college, my vote didn't mean much anyway. You see in 2000, I voted for Al Gore for President of the United States. Of course he won the popular vote, but not the electoral. I felt defeated, and only voted in the Presidential elections. 

Looking back I know that was a defeatist attitude, because every election mean a great deal to our nation, and out state and local elections are probably even more important truth be told. Our state and local officials have a great deal to do with our quality-of-life, and the civil liberties we experience. 

Shortly after November of 2016, something woke in me, with the Governor of Missouri going after the working people with intense pressure and fighting hard for issues like Prevailing Wage (In government contracting, a prevailing wage is defined as the hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime, paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics within a particular area.) and Right To Work (which is simply a unions busting bill that corporations have been trying to pass for many years now, it allows members of a union to not pay dues and still receive all the union benefits "freeloading") to name a few. I felt like myself and all other union members were under attack. So I started to educate myself on those issues in particular. 

What I found was that the elected Republican officials were backed by mega donors that were fighting to drive down wages, so that corporations and businesses can earn higher profits. I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination, but it was plane to see. I know that my dollar is not stretching as far as it did 25 years ago, when I first started at Ford Motor Company.

I also know that, after NAFTA was passed, a lot of good paying jobs left our country and the towns they were in destitute, going where companies can pay the workers less.

Corporate greed has taken over our country. Whereas employees used to be thought of as assets, they are now simply thought of as an expense. The only thing that corporations think of are their shareholders. It's sad to see such a strong nation be reduced to this. The more I learned, the more I knew something had to be done. I am not big on complaining and not trying to do something to fix the situation, so I called the Jackson County Democrats. They expressed to me that they were, and still are, looking for people with a strong economic message to run against Republicans determined to steer us in the wrong direction like Dan Stacy (my districts incumbent representative). 

I know that I can make a difference, and as a representative that is exactly what I am going to do!

- Travis Hagewood