JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Rep. Mike Bernskoetter kicked off his campaign for SD 6 with a pork steak dinner attended by over 800 Tuesday night.
Bernskoetter was elected to the Missouri House in 2010 and has served on Agriculture business policy committees since arrived. He served as the chair of the Administration and Accounts committee last year. Last legislative session, he sponsored SB 486 which allowed Jefferson City to reclaim property from the state.
According to the Missouri Times tip sheet as of August 2017, he has $3,600 in contributions this period and has $82,080 on hand.
A large part of his life has been shaped by his business, Art’s Pest Control. He started working there nearly a decade after graduating high school. After a couple years, he would eventually seize the opportunity to buy the company with his wife in 1986. Bernskoetter, his wife Jeannette, and his son Kyle have been operating the business ever since.
The Bernskoetter family has lived in Cole County for five generations. Through his work in the government and in the private sector, he is as much a part of the community, as the community is a part of him.
“We’ve been in business for almost 32 years and the community has been very supportive of us and our family. I’m one of those people that if somebody is supportive of me, I’d like to be supportive of them,” Bernskoetter said. “I go into people’s houses every day doing my pest control work so I talk to people every day about their thoughts and ideas about how government should work. It’s pretty amazing. People will just sit down and start talking to you.”
One of the ways he has tried to advocate for his community is through his attempts to negotiate wage increases for government workers. The state government employs over 14,000 people and is the largest employers of Jefferson City residents. Unfortunately, due to tax revenue shortfalls, the state has not been able to afford wage increases for government workers.
“It seems like we’re always balancing the budget on the backs of state workers,” Bernskoetter says. “The House Budget Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick said that it would be one of his priorities coming up this session. I’m going to try to hold him to that. He’s a business owner too. He realizes that if you’re paying people the lowest amount, you get what you pay for. Even if they stay there, it’s bad for morale, knowing that you’re not making the salary that you should be making”
Bernskoetter says he wants to run for Senate to continue representing his community, which he feels he understands pretty well. In Senate District 6 outside Cole County, much of the district is rural. He mentions that both his grandparents and parents live and work on farms and has been around agriculture all his life. He thinks that helps him understand life in all parts the district.
However, he feels he is best capable to represent the district because of his community outreach, “People always talk about a citizen legislature and that’s what I feel like I am, with my position in the government and my position in the private sector,” Bernskoetter said. “When I’m not in the Capitol, I go to people’s houses and do pest control, and so I think I understand what people want in the district.”
He hopes to replace Sen. Mike Kehoe who faces term limits in 2018.
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
