My name is Douglas Mann, and I am asking you to support me as I seek to represent Missouri’s 50th House District. The people of the 50th deserve a caring, collaborative, and capable representative in Jefferson City. As your representative, I promise to listen to your concerns and fight for you day in, day out.
I was born and raised in a small town in Western New York. There I saw firsthand the effects economic blight can have on communities and families. We didn’t have a car, so my mother had to walk to work and borrow a car for groceries. Though we weren’t wealthy financially, we were lucky to have community support to keep us going. Despite our economic situation, my mother worked hard to ensure my sister and I were exposed to as many experiences as we could be, including taking in music and art at the local university. Watching my mother do all she could to give her children a better life gave me a deep appreciation for the time and effort parents put in daily so their children can succeed. Furthermore, having others step up and assist us showed me the importance of the larger community and public institutions in ensuring everyone has the chance to flourish.
Education was always of the utmost importance in our household. The value of education instilled in me at a young age propelled me through high school, a bachelor's degree, and two master's degrees. This understanding of the power of a quality education led me to teach civics and history on the southwest side of Chicago. The students I worked with were bright, ambitious, and gave me great hope for the future of our nation. Yet, despite their brilliance, these students were often overlooked and left without the resources many of their counterparts in other zip codes had. This injustice helped push me to apply to law school to fight further for overlooked and underresourced individuals.
My wife and I moved to Columbia after being accepted to the University of Missouri School of Law. We immediately fell in love with the area and became involved in the community. Throughout our time here, I have volunteered with Planned Parenthood, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and other local non-profits. I have worked with local organizers to fight for better public safety policies, including speaking in front of City Counsel about my own mental health journey. I have worked with national environmental and healthcare organizations, using the skills I have gained through my education to improve the lives of others. I now work for a local civil rights firm fighting against discrimination on multiple fronts.
All the work I have done has shown me that Mid-Missouri can be an example for the rest of the nation, but unfortunately, policies passed out of Jefferson City hold it back. Policies that allow corporations and foreign investors to decimate our land and environment. Policies that suck funds out of public schools and push them into for-profit education. Policies that keep folks from accessing healthcare while allowing a wealthy few to see record profits. Policies that diminish the power of labor and small business and empower corporate interests.
The people of the 50th deserve a representative who will fight for them—a representative who will keep the interests of everyday people in mind with every decision they make. If you elect me, I will be that representative. I am ready to fight for the 50th in Jefferson City.