“We need to have the most motivated teachers for students right when the child starts school,” Sims said.

Arthur Hodge Sr. is the third candidate for the Republican nomination.

Hodge grew up in Kansas City and has lived in Springfield since 1987. He retired from the U.S. Army after serving 21 years and then worked for the Springfield public school system. He said he has about two years of college.

Hodge said leadership skills he honed during his military career are some of his strongest qualifications for the office of lieutenant governor.

Hodge said one of the important issues facing the state, and the nation, is the “blight of young blacks in America.”

Hodge said too many young people are falling through the cracks, and not receiving the attention and guidance they need.

Democrats

On the Democratic side there are six candidates seeking their party’s nomination for lieutenant governor.

They are state Rep. Sam Page; Michael E. Carter; Richard Charles Tolbert; Becky Plattner; Mary Williams and C. Lillian Metzger.

Page, 42, was raised in Van Buren and now lives in St. Louis. He is a physician, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and graduated in 1992 from the UMKC Medical School. Page served two terms on the Creve Coeur City Council and is in his third term in the Missouri House, representing the 82nd District and is also a practicing physician.

Page cites his governmental experience as a member of the Creve Coeur City Council and as a member of the state Legislature as well has his medical background as qualifications for the office of lieutenant governor.

One of the most important roles the lieutenant governor can play, Page said, is as an advocate for senior citizens.

Page also said he would work to reduce the burden of rising medical costs of Missouri residents.

As a member of the Legislature, Page said he would be better equipped to handle the lieutenant governor’s role as president of the state Senate.

Carter, 36, is a senior lecturer at the University of Missouri at St. Louis and an attorney practicing in St. Charles. He has worked in the Missouri attorney general’s office and for the Western District Court of Appeals. Carter has twice run unsuccessfully for circuit judge in St. Charles County.