Newly elected Mark Alford is transitioning from sitting behind a news desk in Kansas City to representing Missouri’s 4th District in Congress. He believes God has been preparing him for this moment.
“Everyone who’s been in D.C. for a while says it’s not just like drinking out of a fire hose, but a fire hydrant; forget the hose, there’s just so much information coming at you,” he told CBN News. “It’s just overwhelming, the first day we get on the House floor, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I’d be on the House floor, and come January 3rd, that’ll be my job,
After reporting and anchoring for more than two decades, he felt his voice wasn’t being heard clearly enough. “I don’t consider them conservative views,” he said. “ It was the facts, it was the other side of the story to give the story balance.”
That’s when he started to reflect on his next move.
“It was a very scary leap,” Alford said. “I’ve never done anything like this in my life, just to go out, but I felt God pushing me out this window and he was saying ‘fly, trust me, fly.’ And we did it, we took that leap. I turned in my two weeks’ resignation, I went on the last day of my air and told our viewers and said, `everything I’ve done was to come on and tell you the truth, because that’s the only thing that matters, is truth.’ Those were my last words, and then I filed for this office and announced our candidacy.”
Alford replaces Republican Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler who gave up the seat to run for the U.S. Senate in Missouri. Hartzler lost the primary to Attorney General Eric Schmitt who went on to win the general election.
Alford says he’ll get some tips from her at the Capitol, then turn his focus toward issues in his district, including hardships being felt by rural Missourians.
“We need to make sure our farmers are protected,” Alford said. “With the farm bill coming up in 2023, I’m hoping to get on the ag committee to help push through a farm bill that’s going to be beneficial for the American people. As far as the food programs go, that makes up 80 percent of it, but also equally important for our farmers that need protection, need crop insurance and get Americans behind them to say we believe in you,.”
Although Alford might not know his way around the D.C. Beltway quite yet, he is confident in his guide.
“President Reagan said this 40 years ago, something to this effect: It’s time for us to reassert our trust in God, it’s time to realize we need him more than he needs us and it’s time to turn to God for the healing of America,” he said. “I want to be part of that healing, I don’t know what kind of role I’ll be able to play, I’ll just be one voice, but I want to do all I can to make that happen.”
–Dwight Widaman | MV