Politician, the leaders in our society, are also husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. MHS has ties with two of these politicians.

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014 was a day of excitement and disappointment. Democrats lost the majority of the house that day and Republicans gained it. Two seats however, did not change.

Representative Don Gosen, district 101, was first elected in 2010 and has been serving ever since.

“He’s really funny and ambitious, and he jokes around a lot, but he’s really hard working,” senior Rachel Gosen, Don’s daughter said.

Before Don became a politician, he was the owner of a brewery named “Tim Mill Brewing Company” which he sold to his co-owner after deciding to run for office. He is also still an insurance agent.

“He decided there’s a lot of things going on in our state and he didn’t want to sit there and wait for things to change,” Rachel said. “He actually wanted to do the changing and he feels like he has more control of his own life because he’s helping control what goes on in the state.”

Other than his Brewery, Don has also had to sacrifice time with his family to work as a representative. Most of his weekdays, Monday through Thursday, are spent in his apartment in Jefferson City and he can only visit his family on the weekend. The family, however, has learned to adapt.

“My mom will go visit in his apartment sometimes just because she misses him,” Rachel said. “If I need something, I normally just have to take care of it myself, but it’s fine because I’m pretty independent.”

Another difficulty the family faces is the difference of thought in political affiliation. Don is a republican while Rachel considers herself as a libertarian, liberal in some aspects – usually social – and conservative in others – economic.

“He’s actually pretty open minded,” Rachel said. “We agree on some things and disagree on others, but he does let me debate with him and does agree with some things I say.”

Representative Paul Curtman, District 109, math teacher Ruth Curtman’s husband, was reelected for his third term this November.

“We met when he was home on leave one weekend from the Marine Corp. and that was probably ten years ago.” Ruth said.

Like Don Gosen, Paul also has to work away from home in Jefferson City from Mondays to Thursdays. Being separated was hardest when they were newlyweds, but the couple have now adapted.

“I do a lot of private tutoring,” Ruth said. “I do it all in the evenings that he’s gone, so I’m still busy and I don’t miss him as much.”

Getting elected for Paul was much harder as he ran in a district that was about 60 percent democrat. Paul ran as a republican. To compensate, Ruth, Paul and a close friend knocked on over 30,000 doors over the summer.

“It was hot, but fun.” Ruth said. “We had challenges and we would see who could get the most yard signs in a week and just different things like that. Honestly, I look back on that as some of the best times we’ve had just working with a common goal and getting to spend a lot of time together.”

All the sweating and work in the summer paid off as Paul won not just by a little, but by a lot.

“I remember we stopped at a gas station to I guess fill up with gas or whatever, but this man came over and of course we didn’t know who he was at all but he said “Are you Paul Curtman?’ and he said, ‘I want to shake your hand. I don’t know you but I’m going to vote for you tomorrow. You have a thousand friends in this district. I see your supporters everywhere.’” Ruth said.

After all the second guessing and stress that comes from being disadvantaged in an election, Ruth’s favorite part was seeing her husband win.

“Ultimately he was really thinking that God was calling him to do this and so God – really –  I believed opened up a lot of doors for him and so it all worked out.”