Robert Stokes of Jasper County announced his intent to run for State Representative in House District 162. He seeks to replace the term limited incumbent Charlie Davis.
Stokes, a member of the Carl Junction Chamber of Commerce, remarked, “As a conservative small business owner, I am very aware of overly burdensome regulations the government places on job creators. If elected, I will work to reduce regulations on Missouri businesses and promote pro-growth policies.”
Stokes is the former director of development of Pitsco, Inc. In 2005, he started his own business, Stokes Educational Services (SES), which provides professional development for teachers, curriculum development and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related educational products across the USA.
“I believe every student needs access to a quality education that best fits their needs. I started SES to provide custom solutions to public and private schools as well as homeschoolers as an alternative to the one size fits all solutions offered by large educational companies. If elected to the Missouri General Assembly I will bring this same philosophy of focusing on the specific individual needs of each student, parent, teacher and educational institution to our state’s education policy.”
Stokes is actively involved with the Technology Student Association (TSA), serving as a parent advisor for his local program in Carl Junction, a member of the Missouri TSA Board of Directors, and an event coordinator with the national organization. Stokes has served as a team manager for multiple CJ Destination Imagination teams. Stokes attends Mount Hope Church of Christ, in Webb City, where he volunteers as an administrative team member, Finance Deacon and a children’s ministry teacher. When his kids were younger, Stokes coached basketball, baseball, softball and soccer for local youth athletic programs.
Stokes received his B.S. in Mathematics with a minor in Physics at Missouri Southern State University and his M.S. in Mathematics at the University of Utah. Stokes spent an additional two years studying and teaching mathematics at Oklahoma State University.
He said, “I believe my background in mathematics will aide me in examining state revenue and spending models to help identify budget solutions. In the 2017 budget these projections were off by over $150 million. This was a result of inexcusably poor budgetary models which forced the new Governor to make large cuts after the fiscal year had already begun.”
Robert and Lynnette, his wife of nearly 30 years, have lived in Carl Junction for nearly a quarter century. They have four children: Andrew, Steven, Adam and Ashley. Like Robert, Lynnette and Andrew graduated from MSSU’s Honor’s Program where Steven and Adam currently study. The three boys are all graduates of Carl Junction High School where Ashley is a sophomore and member of CJ’s varsity softball, basketball and soccer teams.
Stokes’ campaign kickoff event is scheduled for October 12th at 6PM at Briarbrook Country Club in Carl Junction.
Stokes has retained Axiom Strategies to consult on his campaign.
