DETERMINATION - SEMO Times
DETERMINATION - SEMO Times
DETERMINATION - SEMO Times
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www.semotimes.com News & Opinion Section<br />
page 4<br />
Determination: Billington seeks state rep nod<br />
Laura Isaacs<br />
<strong>SEMO</strong> TIMES<br />
The people of 154 th District know<br />
Hardy Billington.<br />
As the owner of a heating and cooling<br />
business, Billington made their<br />
homes and businesses comfortable.<br />
As president of the board of education<br />
member, he’s saved the taxpayers more<br />
than one million dollars. He has representative<br />
them at national political conventions<br />
and he was the man behind<br />
President Bush’s record-setting 2004<br />
visit. He served our<br />
country as a member<br />
of the National Guard.<br />
He’s an active member<br />
at his church in Poplar<br />
Bluff and a family man<br />
with three daughters<br />
and five grandchildren.<br />
The 53-year Butler<br />
County resident has<br />
also served as a member<br />
of the Republican<br />
State Committee, as<br />
vice chairman of the<br />
Republican Central<br />
Committee, as chairman<br />
of the 154 th Legislative<br />
District Committee<br />
and is on two<br />
advisory boards in the<br />
city of Poplar Bluff.<br />
And now he’s seeking<br />
to stand for the people he knows<br />
so well in Jefferson City as state representative.<br />
And despite his vast achievements<br />
and election aspirations, Billington remains<br />
modest.<br />
“I don’t define myself by these successes,”<br />
he said.<br />
Based on his actions and his unassuming,<br />
humble demeanor, Billington<br />
seems to define himself by his<br />
loyalty to his country, his conservative<br />
Republican ideals and his desire<br />
to help people.<br />
“I went to boot camp at Fort Leonard<br />
Wood. Anytime someone goes to<br />
boot camp, it changes their life,” Billington<br />
said. “But the experience I<br />
had changed my pride in my country<br />
to a desire to<br />
fight for it.”<br />
D e s p i t e<br />
his unpret<br />
e n t i o u s<br />
a p p r o a c h ,<br />
B i l l i n g t o n<br />
is widely<br />
r e c o g n i z e d<br />
and lauded<br />
for his work<br />
brining President<br />
George<br />
W. Bush to<br />
Poplar Bluff<br />
during his<br />
2004 campaign.Nearly<br />
30,000<br />
p e o p l e<br />
showed up to<br />
see the president<br />
and Billington said the experience<br />
changed his life a great deal.<br />
“By coming here, President Bush<br />
showed he really cared for people,”<br />
Billington said. “And President Bush<br />
was really impressed by the people<br />
here.”<br />
After the event, Billington and<br />
his wife visited to the White House<br />
to meet the president, and have since<br />
received two more invitations from<br />
Bushes.<br />
During the 2008 presidential campaign,<br />
Billington ran the local Republican<br />
Headquarters. His work there<br />
helped him garner a spot serve as a delegate<br />
at the 2008 Republican National<br />
Convention in Minnesota and helped<br />
John McCain win Butler County. And<br />
despite the outcome of the 2008 elec-<br />
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI’S NEWS-MAGAZINE OF POLITICS AND CULTURE<br />
tion, Billington’s patriotism still influences<br />
him.<br />
“We need to support the president,<br />
but the country is going in the wrong<br />
direction,” Billington said. “Voters<br />
have a lot of buyers’ remorse.”<br />
“As Republicans, we need to<br />
take back the committee and the<br />
house,” Billington said. For more<br />
information about Hardy Billington<br />
and his campaign, visit<br />
www.hardybillington.com.<br />
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