Ed Martin
Ed Martin always seemed like kind of a long shot in the Missouri Senate GOP primary for the nomination to run against Claire McCaskill; despite a lot of behind-the-scenes powerbrokering in Missouri politics, his only real turn in the political limelight was a losing bid against Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan in last year's MO-03 race. When running against only former state Treasurer (and '08 gubernatorial primary loser) Sarah Steelman, he at least had a Tea Party angle to play, though, as many of the local teabaggery were suspicious of Steelman's lack of total purity on the issue of trial lawyers. But with the increasingly large possibility of hard-right Republican Rep. Todd Akin jumping into the Senate primary, Martin's window got much smaller, and he's now wisely seeking out Akin's
House seat instead.
Carnahan was the only name Martin mentioned in his announcement Monday.
“Elected officials like Russ Carnahan have been focused on growing their power and enriching themselves instead of remembering our families and safeguarding the American dream," Marin said in a statement posted to his website. "I am running for Congress because I know we can do better. I want to fight for the American dream and for our future.”
We don't have presidential results calculated yet for the newly configured Missouri map (which will become law as a result of an override of Gov. Jay Nixon's veto by the GOP-controlled legislature), but MO-02 looks like it will continue to be a safely Republican district in the more affluent parts of St. Louis's suburbs... although probably less safe, as it's taking on parts of Carnahan's MO-03, the Dem-leaning district that got vaporized as Missouri drops to eight seats. It remains to be seen whether Carnahan runs in the 2nd, or for Lt. Governor as has been rumored, or heads for the private sector. Either way, Martin is no lock for getting out of the GOP primary. He'll face former Ambassador and RNC official Anne Wagner (who had briefly considered the Senate race herself), and possibly state Sen. Jane Cunningham too.
You know what'd be awkward? If, after all this, Akin decides to keep his House seat. It'd be interesting to see where Martin and Wagner go if that happens. But today's announcement is pretty suggestive that Martin got a heads-up from Akin, and an Akin Senate announcement is, as Roll Call now puts it, "widely expected" soon.
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