LOOSE CREEK — Democrat Stacy Bax told a crowd Thursday in Loose Creek her campaign for Missouri House District 61 is rooted not in politics, but in the realities she and her family face every day in rural Missouri.

“I grew up here, and I’m raising my family here,” said Bax, who was elected president of the Osage County Democrat Club last year. “I know what it’s like to go through the struggles of our community because I’m living it.”

Speaking to roughly 40 attendees at her Osage County campaign kickoff on Thursday, Bax thanked her family, tying her decision to run directly to them.

“To my husband, thank you for always believing in me, even when I was struggling with myself,” she said. “And to my kids — you are my why. I love you all more than anything.”

Bax described her family’s deep roots in the district, including a multi-generational connection to farming and small business, and said those experiences shape how she views the economic pressures facing local residents.

She said conversations across the district have centered on affordability and the growing gap between wages and expenses.

“I don’t think I need to remind anyone that groceries cost more, child care is out of reach, and wages aren’t keeping up,” Bax said. “People are doing everything right and still falling behind. That’s not right.”

Bax also connected those concerns to her own family’s experience as owners of Bax Timbers, describing how broader economic policies, including tariffs, ripple directly into rural operations like hers. “These aren’t just headlines for us,” she said. “They affect what we pay, what we earn, and whether things balance at the end of the year.”

Bax said rising input costs, some due to tarriffs, paired with uncertain markets create difficult conditions for long-term planning.

“When those costs go up and the markets don’t follow, that gap has to come from somewhere,” Bax said. “And for families like ours, it comes out of what you’re able to put back into your operation, your business, or your household.”

Bax said those realities reinforce her belief that policy decisions made at higher levels of government have immediate consequences for rural communities.

She also pointed to increasing strain on local services as communities grow and demands shift.

“I talked to our local fire department, and they’re feeling the pressure,” Bax said. “As our local college grows, so does the demand for their emergency services, but the funding isn’t keeping up, so they’re being asked to do more with less. That’s not sustainable, and it’s not fair.”

Bax identified disability services and public education as key concerns, grounding those issues in her own family’s experience.

“My son was diagnosed with autism at age three,” she said. “I remember sitting in those rooms being told what he would never do, what he would never be.”

She contrasted that with his life today.

“Today, at 25 years old, he lives on his own, drives, works, has friends, and has a life filled with independence and purpose,” Bax said. “That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because the right supports were there when we needed them.”

Bax said potential cuts to those services would have lasting impacts. “When I hear about cuts to those services, I don’t see numbers on a spreadsheet,” she said. “I see families. I see futures. And I’m not willing to stand by while those lifelines are taken away.”

She also raised concerns about proposals to shift Missouri’s tax structure.

“There’s a proposal to eliminate a state income tax and replace it with a sales tax on everything, including services,” Bax said. “That shifts the burden onto the people who get up and go to work every day — the people already feeling squeezed.”

Throughout her remarks, Bax returned to the idea that her campaign is built on listening rather than prescribing solutions.

“I’m not running because I have all the answers,” she said. “I’m running because I’m listening.”

She also highlighted public school resources, rural infrastructure, and affordability as central priorities.

Will Westmoreland, who introduced Bax, encouraged attendees to support candidates with direct ties to rural communities and emphasized the importance of engaging voters at the local level.

Back Forty Action podcast Executive Director and founder of Highlander Political Strategies Will Westmoreland, who spoke for Bax, framed her candidacy as part of a broader effort to reconnect with rural voters.

“There’s no scenario in rural America where we’re going to win it back again without changing minds,” he said of a Democrat majority, particularly in the presidential election. We’ve got to change minds. We don’t have to change all of them — about 12 to 14% — but swe’ve got to change minds.”

Westmoreland added that few candidates make it to the rural area, asking, “When’s the last time somebody running for statewide office or president came to your town and talked to you where you are?”

Westmoreland said that shift depends on candidates who can speak from personal experience and connect directly with voters’ concerns. “Personal stories are what’s really important right now,” he said, pointing to Bax’s background as a business owner and parent as evidence of that connection. “We don’t have to guess with Stacy. We’re getting a real person — not somebody who just wants to run for office to hold the office. She’s not going to come down here, tell you she cares, and then go to Jefferson City and forget where she came from.”

Westmoreland, who runs Highlander Ag, an agroforestry business in Missouri, and is involved in niche agriculture such as walnut and chestnut farming, also tied Bax’s campaign to broader economic challenges facing rural communities. He argued that pressures on farmers, small businesses, and public institutions require candidates willing to engage directly with voters rather than rely on party messaging.

Westmoreland praised Bax for making the decision to run for office, noting she and others “made a decision they weren’t going to sit on the back bench and complain — they were going to do something about it.”

He encouraged supporters to add their voices to the mix. “That’s what we need more than anything right now,” Westmoreland said. “Go tell your personal story.”

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