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Encouraged by Ashcroft, Anderson to seek SD 30 seat

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The race to fill the seat that will be vacated by the term-limited Sen. Bob Dixon looks to be heating up as another contender has entered the fray.

Rep. Sonya Anderson intends to run for the Missouri Senate seat, potentially setting up a heated Republican primary against Caleb Arthur and David Cort.

Rep. Sonya Anderson

Though Anderson has not officially announced her candidacy, she confirmed her plans to her hometown newspaper, the Springfield News-Leader, on Monday. Anderson currently serves as the state representative for northern Greene County and is in her third term in the Missouri House.

The Republican legislator has been encouraged to run by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who, according to sources, wrote her the first check for her campaign.

Anderson says she intends to place her focus on issues like job creation and transportation infrastructure, which has become a growing concern with each year. She says part of the reason for running is the dysfunction that ruled the Missouri Senate, which led to the demise of many bills this past session.

As for her competition, Arthur is a former police officer and the owner of a local solar-panel installation business in Greene County, while Cort comes to the race as a candidate who ran for House District 133 seat in 2016 unsuccessfully.

Rep. Kevin Austin had previously announced his intentions to run for the seat, but pulled out in late July, saying he would instead be focusing on his private law practice.

That move came just days after Arthur dumped $200,000 of his own money into his campaign. Anderson, meanwhile, showed $16,427.26 in cash on hand in her July quarterly report. Cort has no records listed with the Missouri Ethics Commission’s website in regard to campaign finances for his Senate campaign.

Arthur had been scheduled to host a kickoff event, but it was postponed. As of now, it has not been rescheduled.