McCallian speaks on jobs and housing

Randi McCallian knows her political battles are fought uphill.

Missouri’s 8th Congressional District Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives seat occupied by Congressman Jason Smith (R) said despite the odds stacked against her, she refuses to back down from a fight.

“I know my chances of winning are near zero,” she said Thursday. “I’m not running to gain a title.

“I’m running for all the other reasons,” she added. “Like affording the people of the 8th District real representation that’s been missing here for so long.”

Her last foray into politics was cut short when her bid to unseat Smith in 2022 proved unsuccessful. Smith garnered 76 percent of the vote to McCallian’s 21.9.

“That’s okay,” she said. “Congressman Smith has deep pockets.

“He has the money to keep him in that position,” she continued. “In the meantime, we’re still waiting for greater internet access and more cell phone towers here in rural Missouri.”

That’s not all rural 8th District residents lack, she said.

“Jobs,” she said. “We have a real need for jobs and information access here.”

McCallian said improvements closer to home are necessary prior to addressing the jobs issues.

“The 8th District doesn’t have the housing infrastructure to support the creation of more jobs,” McCallian said. “We should invest in rural housing development.

“We all should have high-speed internet access,” she added. “Investing in high-speed internet access in our district is one of the important ways we can revitalize our rural economy.”

The district seems incredibly distant from other rural locations closer to urban settings, and is in first place in the state in some unwanted classifications, she noted.

“We lead in under-education,” McCallian said. “We lead in serious chronic illnesses.

“We’re dead last in the state in life expectancy,” she lamented. “Now, like the people of Iron and Dent counties, people in Pemiscot and New Madrid counties are impacted seriously by water contamination.”

McCallian referred to lead contamination in Big Creek at Iron County that resulted in a fish advisory for sunfish and bottom feeders upstream from an inactive lead smelter at Glover.

In addition, Salem at Dent County listed 33 storage tank spills, a number of polluters and two archived Superfund sites, according to Missouri Environmental Hazards reports.

“Exactly what’s happening at Portageville,” she said. “The people there are exposed to toxic contaminants that have been, evidently, leaked into and are present in incredible saturation numbers in the groundwater.

“That affects the people of Pemiscot and New Madrid counties negatively,” she said. “It adds to the horrible health issues from which we suffer and subtracts from the quality of life here in the 8th District.”

Indeed, hexavalent chromium, chromium, arsenic and PFASs are present in Portageville groundwater test results in numbers far greater than those discovered at Hinkley, California and Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Those toxins were responsible for increased cancer deaths at Hinkley and birth defects among infants at Parkersburg, studies indicate.

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed by Kansas City’s Wagstaff and Cartmell law firm attorney Brian Madden alleges defendant SRG Global was negligent in its processes and polluted the groundwater at Portageville, Madden told the Delta Dunklin Democrat recently.

The toxic plume extends into New Madrid County, and into Pemiscot County, where cancer deaths are nearly double than, and in some instances greater than double, that of the rest of the state, test results indicate.

The information both disturbed and inspired McCallian, she said.

“When I talk to people from around the state they can’t grasp how bad it is in the 8th District until I supply them with the data, “McCallian said. “I’m here to hold people accountable.

“I hope to represent the people of the 8th District,” she added. “We deserve so much more.”