25th District heats up with endorsements

Three candidates are running in the Democratic primary for the House seat.

By Mary Daly
May 9, 2008

Mary Still, state representative candidate for the 25th District, listens to Democracy for Missouri steering committee member Bill Monroe speak at the Columbia Labor Temple on Wednesday night. Democracy for Missouri members voted to endorse Sean Spence for the 25th District race.

The race for state representative in the 25th district seat is heating up as some candidates received new endorsements Wednesday.

Democracy for Missouri, the Columbia branch of Democracy for America, sponsored a meeting Wednesday to determine which candidate the group would endorse.

State Auditor spokesman Sean Spence won the organization’s endorsement, earning 65 percent of the vote.

The other Democratic candidates in the race, legislative advocate Bob Pund and former MU spokeswoman Mary Still, split the other 35 percent.

MU sociology professor Wayne Brekhus, the group’s president, conducted the voting. There were 47 members in attendance.

“There are three very excellent Democrats with progressive bona fides running, so the choice was difficult,” Democracy for Missouri said in an online statement.

The organization said it endorsed Spence because of his ability to represent the 25th District and his determination to run a grassroots campaign, according to the statement.

Spence said the endorsement is one of the most important ones he could receive because Democracy for Missouri’s members are real activists for the Democratic Party.

“This isn’t an endorsement that comes from a couple of powerful people sitting in a backroom,” he said. “It is grassroots politics at its finest.”

Spence said he is most pleased with the endorsement because members of the group will also volunteer with his campaign.

“DFA is a committed, energetic group of Democratic activists who will do more for our campaign than any amount of money could do,” Spence said. “Some candidates try to buy their way into office with personal money. The hard work and person-to-person efforts of a group like DFA are what it takes to counteract that kind of thing.”

Each candidate was given the opportunity to give a three-minute speech to meeting attendees. In his speech, Spence discussed creating a new model of legislative leadership.

“Our leaders need to do more than just give speeches on the Missouri House floor,” he said. “Today, a good legislator should build communities of people who will work for real change.”

Spence said he thinks he received the endorsement because of his grassroots organizing ability.

“They know how hard I work and how committed I am to enacting real change that matters to people,” he said.

The Missouri Women’s Leadership Coalition and the Missouri Equal Rights Amendment Political Action Committee, statewide organizations that promote and endorse progressive, pro-abortion-rights candidates, also announced on Wednesday their unanimous endorsement of Still.

Rebecca Richardson, training director at the women’s coalition, said her organization screens for candidates on a variety of issues that affect women and families.

The Missouri ERA PAC promotes unimpeded reproductive health care rights for women, restoration of Medicaid coverage for low-income Missourians, equal rights and pay equity for women, affordable education and stem cell research.

“We chose to support Mary because she shares our progressive values,” Richardson said.

Still was unavailable for comment Thursday.

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25th District heats up with endorsements

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