Saint Louis, Mo. — Democrat Rep. Jeff Roorda is looking to dig in an early lead in his race for state senate against Republican Rep. Paul Wieland in Jefferson County. Roorda began airing his second television ad today – this one touting his law-and-order chops.
“I cracked down on meth dealers and dangerous child predators,” Roorda says in the ad. “I wrote Jessica’s Law, requiring a mandatory 30-year prison sentence for any convicted child molester.”
Roorda will certainly be leaning heavily on his background in law enforcement in his race against Wieland. Jefferson County has long been a somewhat comfortable seat for moderate, blue-collar Democrats. But November is expected to be a good year for Republican politicians and Missouri appears to be trending toward the right. The seat is now considered up for grabs, and Democrats have dispatched the moderate Roorda to hold the line.
Rooda worked in law enforcement before running for the legislature, first as an undercover narcotics officer and eventually as a police chief. Roorda’s background with police have made him one of the closest allies to law enforcement interests in Jefferson City.
“There is no issue where I have a more clear advantage over my opponent,” Roorda told The Missouri Times. “This is a county where people care about safety. We have safe schools and safe neighborhoods and people want to make sure we are keeping it that way.”
Roorda’s second ad makes no mention of his opponent, nor did his first, which began airing last week. Roorda’s campaign told The Missouri Times that they were focusing on Roorda’s record rather than attacking Wieland, but hinted that an uglier fight was likely coming.
“My opponent has a record to be embarrassed of and I have a record to be proud of,” Roorda said. “They’ll come at me, I’m sure, with some slanderous ads trying to rewrite history, but the voters will see our records and they won’t buy what he has to say about me.”
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
