Republican candidate Jim Noland said he hasn't made up his mind yet on whether to vote for a Missouri ballot initiative that would raise the minimum wage.
But if you listen to how he feels about the government mandating wages as a philosophy, he doesn't seem enthusiastic about the idea.
He said he's never paid anyone just $5.15 for a good hour of work.
"I'm a farmer. I don't hire anybody for $5.15 an hour. I go get Mennonites I pay $10 an hour," Noland said. "But if I had a full time employee I had to pay $10 an hour, 40 hours a week, I'd have to have 52 cows just to pay for the farmhand. Most small farmers don't have that many cows."
Noland makes the case that a mandatory minimum wage hike could hurt some small farmers stay in business. "Unless government wants to come along and guarantee something else besides wages, I really see a little bit of a problem guaranteeing wages when I have products to sell and I don't have any guarantee there. I think the principle is wrong."
Asked how he will vote on Missouri's minimum wage ballot initiative, Noland responded, " I really hadn't given a lot of thought to it."
Rep. Ike Skelton said he will vote to raise Missouri's minimum wage this November.
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