Jason Maki has announced his candidacy for Platte County Presiding Commissioner, launching a campaign centered on conservative leadership, taxpayer protection, government transparency, and responsible growth that reflects the values of Platte County.
Maki said his campaign offers voters a clear alternative to the political culture that has too often favored insiders, opaque decision-making, and subsidy-driven policies over taxpayers, families, and small businesses.
“Voters deserve a leader who will put taxpayers first — not someone shaped by the same political and development culture that helped create the problems we are now being told require even more taxes and even less accountability,” Maki said.
A Platte County resident for the past nine years, Maki is a husband, father, youth football coach, business leader, mentor, and small business owner with deep roots in both the private sector and the local community. He and his wife, Leah, have been married for 18 years and are raising their 10-year-old son, Finnegan Maki, in Platte County. Finnegan attends public school at Angeline Washington Elementary School, reflecting the family’s direct investment in the future of the community they call home.
A lifelong Republican and conservative, Maki said he is running to bring serious, principled leadership to county government and to ensure that public officials remember who they work for.
“My opponents may be comfortable defending the status quo, the insider culture, and the subsidy-driven approach that has dominated local politics. I’m not,” Maki said. “I’m running to bring conservative reform, real transparency, and taxpayer-first leadership to county government.”
Maki said this race is also about consistency, conviction, and trust.
“I have been a conservative my entire adult life,” Maki said. “I have not changed my principles or my party affiliation when it became politically convenient. Voters have a right to ask whether the people asking for their trust today are offering real conviction or simply the political branding they think fits the moment.”
Maki said Platte County taxpayers are now being asked to absorb the cost of a broken governing culture that rewarded subsidies, incentives, and insider-driven deals while shifting long-term burdens onto working families.
“For years, county leadership and the political-development establishment helped create a culture where tax-based subsidies and backroom incentives were treated as economic policy,” Maki said. “Now, after helping create those obligations and distortions, some of the very same people want taxpayers to believe the answer is higher taxes. That is a bait and switch, and the people of Platte County should not be forced to pay for it.”
Maki added that voters deserve to carefully examine the records of those now presenting themselves as fiscal conservatives and reformers.
“Some candidates are trying to recast themselves for this election, but voters should pay attention to their records,” Maki said. “You cannot help build the leadership culture that created these problems and then run as though you are the outsider sent to clean them up.”
Maki said his campaign will focus on several key legislative priorities:
Protect taxpayers and oppose unnecessary tax increases.
Maki believes Platte County families and small business are already carrying enough of the burden. He will fight to reduce pressure from rising property and sales taxes, examine the long-term necessity and structure of personal property taxes, and push for disciplined, accountable spending before asking taxpayers to send more of their money to government.
Promote transparent, mature, and accountable government.
Maki said transparency is not just a campaign slogan for him — it is a matter of demonstrated principle. He said he has a body of work showing he is willing to ask difficult questions, stand up for accountability, and insist that government operate openly, honestly, and in service to the public.
That commitment to open government has earned recognition beyond Platte County. Maki has been named a “Sunshine Hero” by the Missouri Press Association and the Missouri Sunshine Coalition for his work in support of government transparency and accountability. In a race where many candidates may claim to support open government, Maki enters with a demonstrated record that has already drawn statewide recognition.
Promote responsible growth that protects Platte County’s character.
While Maki supports growth and economic development, he believes development must be fiscally responsible, consistent with the unique character of Platte County, and structured to stand on its own merits — not dependent on backroom deals, excessive subsidies, or policies that ultimately shift costs back onto taxpayers.
Address the rising cost burdens facing families and homeowners.
Maki said local leaders must take seriously the growing pressure families face from escalating insurance premiums, taxes, and other costs that threaten affordability and long-term stability for residents.
“This is Platte County, not Johnson County,” Maki said. “We need leadership that understands our values, protects our communities, and respects the people who work hard, raise families here, and expect government to live within its means.”
In addition to his public positions, Maki pointed to a career that reflects executive leadership, community commitment, and service. He is a proven business leader with more than 25 years of experience and has managed budgets and profit-and-loss responsibility tied to more than $250 million in top-line revenue. He is also a mentor to early-career and established technology professionals, has materially supported the creation of women-owned business enterprises throughout Missouri, and mentors women professionals in technology.
Maki and his family are also small business owners in Platte County whose work has been closely tied to improving public safety. Long before entering this race, they were actively supporting community safety efforts by volunteering time, expertise, and materials at no cost to local municipalities and police organizations.
That support has included outreach to municipal police departments and public entities to loan or donate technologies that could strengthen safety operations during public events and other community needs. Through those efforts, they have supported organizations including the Parkville Police Department and have offered support to Platte City, the Platte County Sheriff’s Department, and others, while remaining actively engaged in developing and deploying innovative public safety technologies.
“I’m not running just to make promises,” Maki said. “I’m running with a record — in business, in the community, and in standing up for transparency and accountability when it mattered. The people of Platte County deserve a leader who has actually done the work, not someone who only discovers these issues when it is time to campaign.”
As a youth football coach and mentor, Maki said he believes leadership starts with accountability, discipline, and investing in the next generation.
“This campaign is about protecting taxpayers, restoring trust in government, and making sure Platte County’s future is shaped by the people who live here — not by insiders, special interests, or political convenience,” Maki said.
