JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Dan Wibracht, a plumber from Bridgeton, announced that he is running for House District 72 to replace Rep. Mary Nichols who faces term limits in 2018. Wibracht is running as a Democrat against Democrat Doug Clemens and Republican Bruce Buwalda.
Wibracht has been working as a plumber for over ten years and developed a close relationship with the plumber’s union, UA Local 562 Plumbers & Pipefitters. As a candidate, he hopes to campaign against right-to-work, which he describes in a blog is legislation that lowers wages, reduces health insurance coverage, and contributes to higher work place fatalities.
“Like many of us, I got a quality education and the training to now be a professional who can provide for my family” he wrote in a post on his Facebook page. “But today, our way of life is under attack. Opportunities for education, employment, and advancement are slipping away. I am concerned that we are not going to pass on a better life to our children.”
In 2016, Wibracht previously ran for House District 73, against incumbent Courtney Allen Curtis in the Democratic primary for the district, which at the time, the Missouri Times called one of the top 20 hottest primaries. He appears to be running on many of the same platforms as he did in 2016. He is hoping for more funding for education, Medicaid expansion, and closing the gender wage gap.
He is running in 2018 to make a positive difference in the state of Missouri for his family. As a father of four, he hopes that he can enact legislation that will positive affect his and his constituents lives. “My family, that’s why I’m running for state representative,” he says. “For all of our families.”
One of the biggest policies he would like to focus on reduced prescription drug coverage, improved workplace safety, and preventing efforts to repeal prevailing wage. “If you sit around and do nothing, things happen to you,” he says. “I’ve got a good life, but if I don’t shoulder the responsibility of protecting it, it will disappear. And I won’t let that happen.”
Michael Layer is a reporter for the Missouri Times and the Missouri Times Magazine. He joined the Missouri Times in August 2017 after graduating from Goucher College the previous May. To contact Michael, email michael@themissouritimes.com or follow him on Twitter @_MichaelLayer
