Stephen Webber has an Opponent!
Rowden drops majority leader bid to seek 19th District Senate seat
Monday, July 27, 2015 at 9:48 From the Columbia Daily Tribune
State Rep. Caleb Rowden abandoned his bid for House majority leader Monday to turn his attention to the 19th District state Senate seat that Democrats are eager to retrieve in 2016 with state Rep. Stephen Webber.
Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said he made the decision on a recent anniversary vacation with his wife, Aubrey Rowden. The workload of a leadership job, with fundraising and travel throughout the year, would take too much time from their family, he said.
“We had a heart to heart talk and started talking about that stuff, and decided maybe this is a good time to think about a different path,” Rowden said.
The change of plans was not the result of falling behind in the leadership race among 117 Republican House members, Rowden said.
“I firmly believe we were in the running to win the race,” Rowden said.
Webber, a Columbia Democrat, announced earlier this year that he would seek the seat currently held by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, who is barred from seeking a third term. Webber, 32, finished law school in 2014 and is serving his fourth and final term in the House.
The 19th District includes Boone and Cooper counties. Schaefer is running for Missouri Attorney General in 2016.
Webber raised $130,000 during the second quarter of the year and had $320,000 in the bank on June 30. Rowden took in $25,525 during the same period and had $54,782 in the bank.
When told that Rowden had changed his plans, Webber said he was ready for the comparison.
“When I was fighting in Iraq the one place I wanted to come home to is Boone County,” said Webber, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2002. “The people of Central Missouri deserve a senator who doesn’t view them as a consolation prize from a failed leadership race.”
Rowden, 33, won the 44th District seat in the Missouri House in 2012, emerging from a three-way primary to defeat former state Sen. Ken Jacob. He has traveled extensively since May to meet with Republican House members in pursuit of the top partisan job in the chamber.
Rowden said the race would compare their records. “I don’t think it is a failed leadership race and I certainly think my track record of accomplishments in four years far surpasses what he has been able to accomplish in eight years.”
State Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, said his colleague told him Sunday.
“He called me yesterday and told me his plans and I was really happy to hear it,” Basye said. “I think it will be a very interesting race. I think it is a good move on his part. I hate to see him leave the House, it will open up some opportunities for someone to run in that district.”
Rowden was in a three-way race with Assistant Majority Leader Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit and Rep. Robert Cornejo, R-St. Peters.
Cierpiot and Cornejo also said Rowden told them he was withdrawing from the race.
Republicans would normally choose a new majority leader in odd-numbered years after the primary election. They were forced to an early choice when House Speaker John Diehl, R-Town and Country, resigned with two days left in the session due to a sexually charged relationship with an intern.
The GOP moved Majority Leader Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff into the speaker’s chair, leaving the majority leader post vacant until this week. Both Cierpiot and Cornejo said they feel good about their position in the race.
“I have enough people tell me they are with me to win, but it is a private vote and I won’t get too confident until the vote is taken Friday morning,” Cierpiot said.
Cornejo said the Rowden’s backers, now uncommitted, could sway the race. “Uncomfortable optimism is the term I would use.”
Basye, who was backing Rowden in the leadership race, said he has already talked to Cierpiot and will speak with Cornejo before making up his mind.
Basye said a Senate race and seat will be easier on Rowden, who has a young child. “I know Stephen Webber has a lot of money in the bank already. It is a long way away, but it will be here before you know it.”
