To the editor:

The falsehoods and distorted messages by some unscrupulous candidates continue to fill the airways. The latest attack-dog technique is by Bekki Cook aimed at John Hancock (not of the Hancock Amendment) who is running for secretary of state. Her latest TV ad claims that Mr. Hancock has a less-than-stellar voting record. To set the record straight and in Mr. Hancock's defense, from 1989-92 the House of Representatives vote 3,027 times of which Mr. Hancock was present 2,864. That comes out to a near 95 percent voting record, which is one of the highest in the Missouri Legislature.

Apparently, some people have absolutely no conscience, morals or integrity in their attempts to retain an office for which they were not voted into in the first place.

For the record, Missourians need people like John Hancock in the secretary of state's office to restore the integrity we enjoyed under Roy Blunt and Jim Kirkpatrick, one a Republican and the other a Democrat.

JIM JOHNSON

Perryville