Meet Amy Freeland, running for House of Representatives in Missouri’s 140th District
Amy is originally from the East Coast, but she settled in Missouri because it’s where she feels the most at home. She’s seen how much the people there care for each other. Amy told us that as soon as she moved in, she already had neighbors welcoming her and offering to mow her lawn! She hasn’t experienced that anywhere else. Amy works full-time as a quality assurance analyst. Running a campaign at the same time is often challenging, but she is determined to do all she can.
Amy’s main motivation in running comes from seeing representatives not respecting the will of the people. She’s witnessed too many leaders ignore the voice of the voters and go against what the people want.
Education is one of Amy’s top focuses. She is worried about the recent book bans passed in her district, as they limit students’ access to information. She aims to stop censorship and prevent politicians from making educational decisions based on their own personal agendas. She believes that decisions about school curricula should be left to locally-elected school boards. Moreover, Amy wants to ensure that taxpayer dollars are invested in fully funding public education. Throughout the state and even within her district, there is a push for “school choice,” which diverts taxpayer dollars into private schools that do not serve the public. Amy is opposed to using public taxes for any service that does not benefit the public. She will also fight to pay teachers living wages that fairly compensate them for the work they do.
Another top priority for Amy is healthcare. We learned from her that the last representative who held this seat was removed from office after being federally convicted of 22 counts of medical fraud, including funneling government-issued pandemic relief money into her private medical practice. Amy sees the former representative’s crimes as a direct consequence of treating healthcare as a for-profit industry. This also underscores why it is so important for us to know the people we are electing and to make sure they have genuine intentions. Amy does not want to see this happen again, and she wants to find a way to offer affordable healthcare to everyone. To this end, she supports fully funding rural hospitals and expanding Medicaid enrollment.
If Amy is elected to this seat, she intends to be transparent, accountable, and accessible to her constituents. She is very open about what she supports and believes. Her goal isn’t to gain power or control, but rather to represent people well. Whenever possible, before making a legislative decision, Amy plans to consult with the people or groups who would be affected by that decision. For example, she would consult with school teachers about educational decisions and medical professionals about healthcare decisions.
Something unique about Amy is that she has a passion for animal conservation and lemurs in particular. She has worked with lemurs while interning for such groups as the Saint Louis Zoo and the Lemur Conservation Foundation. She also traveled to Madagascar for conservation research, studying lemurs in the wild.
Amy wants people to know that Southwest Missouri is a great place to live, full of beautiful natural spaces and good-hearted people. She believes that misinformation and fear are often the only forces that get in the way of people understanding each other. She knows that running in a red district is an uphill battle, but she is confident that she can find common ground with her neighbors and be the right voice for her community.