Kinder leaves governor race
Rep. nominees are State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Rep. Kenny Hulshof.
Published Feb. 12, 2008
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder announced Friday that he would no longer seek the office of governor and would campaign instead to maintain his current office, reducing the Republican slate for Missouri’s 2008 gubernatorial race to two candidates.
Since Gov. Matt Blunt’s announcement that he would not seek re-election, he has been overwhelmed by the support from voters, Kinder said in a news release.
“After a great deal of thought and prayer over the last several weeks, I have decided I will not run for governor this year and will ask Missourians for their vote for lieutenant governor, so we can continue our accomplishments for our veterans, seniors, workers and our shared Missouri values,” Kinder stated in the release.
Remaining in the race for the Republican nomination are Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., who represents Missouri’s Ninth Congressional District, which contains Columbia.
After Kinder’s announcement, which came at the Missouri Republican gathering known as Lincoln Days, both candidates said they intend to stay in the race, which would pit the gubernatorial hopefuls against each other in a state primary.
Attorney General Jay Nixon remains the only Democrat in the gubernatorial race.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said she thought about entering the race before backing off to avoid a primary on the Democratic side.
Steelman campaign spokesman Doug Gaston said Steelman will remain in the race “for the same reasons” that prompted her to begin her campaign.
“She just wants to go to work for the people of Missouri,” Gaston said.
While Hulshof remains in the governor’s race, the Ninth Congressional District has yet to have a GOP candidate officially file to campaign for Hulshof’s seat, in which he is a six-term incumbent. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, Marion County Presiding Commissioner Lyndon Bode and former Missouri House Speaker Steve Gaw are officially vying for the nomination.
Hulshof spokesman Scott Baker said he doesn’t think Hulshof’s district, which favored Republican President George Bush with 59 percent of the vote over U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in his 2004 re-election campaign, will fall into Democratic control.
“The ninth is a politically diverse district,” Scott Baker said. “But it’s a common-sense conservative district.”
Missouri Republican Party spokesman Paul Sloca said Hulshof has been a strong congressman during his tenure.
Hulshof has built a dependable base of voters in his district in which the GOP can continue to depend on to retain the seat, Sloca said.
Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti said voters in this election are looking to change the policies of the current administration, and 2008 could be a “big year” for Democrats.
“Voters in the ninth want change, and the only way to do that is with a Democrat,” Cardetti said.