ST. LOUIS — Democrat Deb Lavender announced this week that she has filed paperwork to run for state representative in the 90th District for 2014.
This will be the fourth time Lavender will run for the District spot, which has been occupied by Rep. Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood, who will term limit out this year.
“I’ve watched another legislative session come up empty for Missourians,” Lavender said. “I feel we need to do better. I’ve run before and I’ve got good name recognition, so I look forward to working on what’s best for Missourians.”
During 2012, Lavender lost to Stream by just more than 1 percent of the vote, coming down to 266 votes. In 2010, the District 94 race — pre-redistricting — garnered just more than a 2,000-vote difference between Stream and Lavender.
“I think the agenda that the Missouri House pursued this past year shows that having a super majority sometimes gets in the way,” she said.
With her committee officially beginning July 1, Lavender said the first campaign event will be walking in Webster’s Fourth of July parade. Beyond the parade, she said there are no other immediate events planned and she has yet to hire campaign staff, however she hopes get going with fundraising as soon as possible and start canvassing by the end of the summer.
Among the issues Lavender said are important to her as she pursues the race are Medicaid expansion and decreasing the size of state government.
“We have the third largest state House in the nation, but we do not have the third largest population,” she said. “I think we should decrease the number of state representatives, which could save Missourians millions of dollars every year.”
Lavender said she has spoken with the state Democratic Party about her intentions and they’ve been very supportive of her getting involved in the race.
About her fourth go around in the race, Lavender said “It’s truly worth the effort.”
Ashley Jost is no longer with The Missouri Times. She worked as the executive editor for several months, and a reporter before that.
