After making a name for herself statewide by introducing the proposition that successfully challenged the federal health care insurance mandate, state Sen. Jane Cunningham may run for the U.S. House of Representatives.
State Sen. Jane Cunningham
The Republican from Chesterfield told Missouri Watchdog Thursday she is looking closely at entering the race in the second congressional district.
“It is important to me that a conservative goes to Washington D.C.,” Cunningham said, adding she has a pro-business and conservative voting record.
She sponsored Proposition C, which was passed by Missouri voters last year in August. The legislatively-referred state statute blocks the federal government from requiring residents to buy health insurance.
The effort to overturn the federal health care law needs to be completed, Cunningham said. “I don’t know a person better from Missouri to get the job done,” she said. “It’s easy to talk the talk. I’ve walked the walk.”
Cunningham said she is currently gauging political support by calling potential donors around the state.
She estimates she would need to raise $1.5 million for the primary race in the second congressional district.
The second district, in the eastern portion of Missouri, includes many of the suburbs surrounding St. Louis.
Rep. Todd Akin, a Republican who currently represents the second district, announced on Tuesday that he was going to run for Senate in 2012, joining the race to try and unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, in 2012.
Former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman, a Republican, launched her Senate campaign in December.
Following the announcement by Akin, former Republican National Committee Co-Chair Ann Wagner, who announced she formed an exploratory committee last month, officially entered the second district race.
St. Louis attorney Ed Martin, who announced his political plans to run in the Senate race in January, officially switched campaigns to run in the Republican primary for the second congressional district last week.
Along with several other Republicans who are considering a run in the district, Rep. Russ Carnahan, a Democrat who currently represents the third congressional district, may run in the second district.
The third district, in eastern Missouri, was eliminated during the redistricting process earlier this month.
By Brian R. Hook, brhook@missouriwatchdog.org, (314) 482-7944
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