The three outgoing House representatives have not ruled out a return.

Columbia legislators prepare to leave office

By Amanda Wysocki

Published Dec. 12, 2008

When the 95th Missouri General Assembly begins on Jan. 7, there will be an entirely new local delegation in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

Following losses in November, three representatives and one senator, all representing Columbia, will be leaving office.

State Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, who represents the 25th House District, lost a race for Missouri's 9th congressional district against Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer. Democratic Rep.-elect Mary Still will fill Baker's seat.

Baker is working for Gov.-elect Jay Nixon's transition team but said running for office again is still a possibility.

"That's not out of the question," Baker said. "It is premature to make decisions on running again. I will be making those evaluations as the future unfolds. I have boxed up the campaign in a way that we could put it back together if we need to."

After serving in the House for six years, state Rep. Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, will lose his seat. Harris chose not to seek re-election as representative from the 23rd House District, and instead ran for state attorney general. He came in third in the Democratic primaries.

"We're proud of our efforts in that race," Harris said. "Throughout the campaign, we were complimented by folks on running a smart and aggressive campaign."

For now, Harris is enjoying having some time to spend with his wife and 1-year-old daughter.

"Right now, I'm just trying to be a good father and good husband," Harris said. "Those are my priorities and that's where my focus is right now. I'm looking at different options professionally and will be making a decision in that regard fairly soon."

Democratic Rep.-elect Stephen Webber will fill Harris' seat.

First elected to the 24th House District in 2004, Republican Ed Robb lost his re-election bid to Democrat Chris Kelly by 0.5 percent of the vote.

Robb said President-elect Barack Obama's visit to Columbia the week before the election was a large part of his loss.

"We know how the race turned out by precinct," Robb said. "So, we know who voted and who didn't."

Now that Robb is out of office, he said he will be returning full-time to his consulting business, Edward H. Robb & Associates. He has not yet ruled out running again in 2010.

"I do not know yet," Robb said. "I won't make that decision until 2009."

Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, lost his Senate seat from the 19th district to Republican Kurt Schaefer.

Graham did not respond to repeated inquiries for an interview.