Congressman Jason Smith squashed longtime rumors he would mount a U.S. Senate bid in Missouri Wednesday, deciding instead to run for re-election.
And Smith, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, will seek to lead the House Ways and Means Committee, sources said. Smith currently serves on the Ways and Means Committee.
“The stakes are too high right now to have some politician taking time off from the fight to play the political ladders game. Missouri families need help right now,” Smith said in a video released Wednesday morning.
Smith hit the Democratic president for his handling of the economy and border crisis. The video juxtaposed images of empty grocery store shelves and clips of Biden appearing on late-night talk shows.
Smith, 41, has represented the 8th congressional district in southeast Missouri since 2013.
He’s long been considered to be a potential candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri to replace outgoing Senator Roy Blunt. He’s held receptions at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and has been a staunch ally of the former president.
Prior to his tenure in Congress, Smith was a member of the Missouri Legislature where he was the Speaker Pro Tem.
Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, Congressman Billy Long, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Sen. Dave Schatz, attorney Mark McCloskey, and former Gov. Eric Greitens are all vying for the GOP nomination for Senate.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
