Luke Rae, MO House District 11

06/17/2026

No matter how bad this deal is, it is better than continuing the war. I hope the final points are agreed upon within the 60 days and we stay out of the Middle East. If the war continued or restarts it would be an even bigger disaster.

This all could have been avoided by not tearing up the Obama deal and not starting the war in the first place. Iran comes out of this much stronger and the U.S. much weaker. This war wasted billions of dollars, the lives of Americans and Iranians, and will change the future of geopolitics forever.

The US and Iran are expected to formally sign a memorandum of understanding on June 19 in Switzerland, paving the way for 60 days of talks aimed at ending their war for good and putting strict new limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

06/16/2026

How about we stop giving tax breaks to huge companies and the wealthiest individuals?

Stop giving tax money to private schools. Don’t give tax breaks to data centers. Dont eliminate the income tax. Make them pay what they are supposed to and invest back in Missouri and its people.

Back in public schools. Give tax breaks to smaller local businesses and help them grow, not to the huge corporations running them out of business and taking the money out of the state.

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe said that there are tough decisions ahead for the state’s budget.

06/14/2026

I was glad to see so much support at the meeting today, especially on short notice. If we keep showing up and making our voices heard we can stop this.

I have a lot of concerns about a data center being built here. This is close to people’s homes and schools, so I’m worried about the noise pollution, excess heat, water and electricity usage, water pollution and AI in general. The city needs to be fully transparent about the details, what tax subsidies are offered, and if NDA’s are being signed. I don’t want resident’s property value to go down and their electricity bill to go up. I don’t want brown water and no water pressure. This could also be just the beginning of a much larger complex. At a minimum a pause should be placed on construction until there is a plan that works in favor of everyone that lives here and protections in place.

Please research this and see what people are saying who already live by data centers. Reach out to city leaders and let them know how you feel. And keep showing up!

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- A group of concerned Buchanan County residents gathered Saturday afternoon to spread awareness over a proposed AI data center in St. Joseph along Pickett Road.

06/09/2026

Summary of my core policy positions:

- Moratorium on Data Center construction
- Regulation of AI
- Adequately fund public education
- Increase taxes on billionaires and large corporations
- Support small local businesses and family farms
- Guarantee affordable healthcare
- Get money out of politics
- Ensure equality for everyone
- End gerrymandering
- Increase mental health services
- Strengthen workers’ rights
- Invest in the American people

Officially at 500 followers! Thank you so much for all the support.

06/08/2026

Reposting due to the recent news about a potential Data Center in Saint Joseph.

AI and Data Centers

This issue is more important than my campaign and affects everyone, so please read, share or talk to other people about this. I want to get the word out to everyone, I think this is an issue both parties can agree on.

I attended a meeting last night about AI and Data Centers. It was very educational and I learned a lot, I admittedly didn’t know that much about data centers before.

For those that don’t know what a data center is it is a large building with thousands of computer chips running constantly mostly to train AI. There are currently 4,000 data centers in the country and 2,700 more planned to open. There are several in this area being planned and built. Close to Maryville, Liberty and Independence with more on the way in the near future. The Midwest is a prime location for data centers to expand into. We have lots of land, plenty of water and cheaper electricity. I would prefer to keep it that way.

Many of these deals to bring data centers are being done behind closed doors with no input from the community. Some local government officials are even signing NDA agreements with companies so that they cannot let the public know what is happening. This is unacceptable, the government should work for the people, not giant tech companies. Large companies are using AI to take jobs and make more money. The government is using AI to fight wars and spy on us.

There is almost no benefit for these communities and many negatives. The jobs to build the data center are temporary and the permanent jobs to run it are few. On the other hand they contribute to noise and air pollution, lead to bad health effects, increase electricity costs for everyone and use tons of water. Often times tax breaks are given to these companies costing us even more money. I don’t see why anyone would want one close to where they live, so why are so many local governments approving them? What is the incentive? Is it just so these huge corporations can make even more money and replace workers with AI?

All of this investment may be good for the economy now, but I believe this is a bubble that will pop sooner than later. If it pops and the war with Iran is still dragging on and the price of oil is high then that will be devastating to the economy.

AI is not inherently good or bad, but without guardrails and regulations it could be very dangerous. We need to make sure we understand the effects on the environment and human health, the tech companies need to pay for the increased costs of utilities, no more NDAs and more transparency, end the tax breaks and instead let the people who live in the community around the data center share in some of the profits. We all have to come together to organize and make sure we protect ourselves. Many states are passing laws to deal with this and to put a hold on new data centers, we need to do the same here.

Thank you to the East Hills Library for hosting, Persisterhood for organizing, the great speakers from the Missouri Workers Center, the guest speaker Jess Piper and all the local candidates that attended.

Check out the stream if you would like to see the presentation in its entirety. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GpHgFNx51/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Link to a petition to stop the data center by Maryville: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-ai-data-center-from-being-built-in-nodaway-county-and-other-missouri-counties

06/06/2026

If anyone lives in a high traffic area and wants a large yard sign, 4x8 ft please let me know. I will be getting smaller signs at a later date as well.

Also consider donating to fund more signs. They are actually pretty expensive. The more signs and name recognition we can get the better.

The picture is from the St. Joseph Goats Arena Football kickoff celebration. I was glad to see so much community support for the team in their first year.

06/04/2026

Social Safety Net

The government should provide a strong Social Safety Net. My family has been a beneficiary of these programs and I know how important they are to many other families.

My wife and I had a child while I was in pharmacy school. This alone would be challenging, but when my son was 6 months old we discovered he had a brain disorder that causes seizures and would prevent him from living a normal life. He is not able to walk, talk or mentally develop at a normal rate. He requires specialized medical care, nutrition and medication.

If it weren’t for government assistance I would not have been able to continue pharmacy school and graduate. I would not have as good of a job as I have now or been able to do a lot of other things in my life or my family’s lives. We received WIC, food stamps, social security supplemental income, Medicaid and lived in rent controlled apartments. It was not a glamorous life but it allowed us time to get our lives under control and continue to move forward.

Having these programs prevents crime, homelessness and suffering for innocent people. It gives them hope and a chance to become self sufficient again. A society should be judged by how it treats the most innocent and vulnerable in a time of need.

We need to control fraud as much as possible and make sure the money is going to families that truly need it. Fraud is a concern that will probably never be solved completely, but we can’t use that as an excuse to get rid of these programs, they are too important.

You may also not like the idea of people not working and living off of your hard earned money, but working class people shouldn’t bear the burden of paying for this. We need to tax the ultra wealthy and not the middle class to pay for it. Quit giving tax money away to huge corporations, those are the real entitlements that should be stopped, not ones helping a struggling family in a time of need. I believe it is for the benefit of everyone not to have people live in destitution in this country.

06/01/2026

Had fun at the Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen concert in Denver.

I couldn’t help but be amazed at how much human collaboration was needed to make it possible and how lucky I am to live in a time and place that allows me the freedom to enjoy it. In between sets people got bored and started the wave, humans are so good at working together that we spontaneously organized 60,000 people just for fun.

People can come together to do great things when they want to. The working class has to organize and come together politically to stand up for our rights. I am worried about paying bills, the cost of gas, healthcare, daycare and food, education funding, the condition of roads, reducing crime and other basic needs. I am running as a democrat because I want to stand up for workers and rebuild a strong middle class where people have their needs met and can afford to live. Stop letting yourselves become divided on wedge issues and instead focus on fixing the fundamental needs of this country.

05/28/2026

Extremely happy to announce I have been endorsed by the Missouri AFL-CIO! I will fight for the thousands of union workers and their families in Missouri to protect their right to organize, the prevailing wage, collective bargaining for public employees and oppose Right-To-Work laws. My brother and many friends are in unions and I have seen the positive impact it has had on their lives.