Blunt will not seek second term
The first-term governor recently gave his State of the State address.
Published Jan. 22, 2008
Gov. Matt Blunt announced today he would not seek re-election in November.
Blunt released a television address, and said he accomplished everything he had wanted to as governor when he ran for his first term, including erasing an inherited $1.1 billion deficit, ending education cuts and saving the Medicaid system in Missouri.
"After a great deal of thought and prayer, and with the knowledge that we have achieved virtually everything I set out to accomplish, and more, I will not seek a second term in the upcoming election," Blunt said in the video he released. "Because I feel we have changed what I wanted to change in the first term there is not the same sense of mission for a second."
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican from Cape Girardeau, Mo., told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch there is a "decent chance" he will run.
The governor will have a news conference at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss his announcement.
A video of Blunt's television address is available at http://youtube.com/GovernorMattBlunt.
Stay tuned to themaneater.com for continuing coverage of the governor's announcement.