WELDON SPRING, MISSOURI (KMOX) - State Senator Bill Eigel (R)-Weldon Spring is not announcing he's running for Missouri Governor just yet. "That decision is going to be made before Labor Day." he told 97.1 FM on Monday. "We're going to come to a final decision... probably in the next 60 to 90 days."
So far, there are only 2 announced candidates to replace termed out Governor Mike Parson, both are Republicans. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was joined last week when Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe made his long-anticipated announcement to run.
Sen. Eigel sees himself as to the right of both those who are running, as well as the current Governor. Speaking of how he believes Missouri should lead the nation in "red issues." He says, "A guy like Ron DeSantis should be waking up in the morning, turning on his TV and saying, 'look at all the good things Missouri is doing.' How can Florida be more like the Show-Me-State?"
Among the conservative issues Eigel has been pushing for is reform of constitutional amendment petitions. He promoted a bill in the Senate to make it harder to get an amendment on the ballot. He favored a 60-percent voter approval threshold, with the Senate finally approving a 57-percent level. He also feels strongly about protecting Missouri farmland from foreign ownership. While some fellow GOP members believe the current limit of 1-percent of total farmland under ownership of America's adversaries should be cut to 0.5-percent, Eigel believes no farmland should be held by any foreign entities. He considers it a matter of food security, and thus national security.
As for whether he runs, the St. Charles County lawmaker says he's already acting like a candidate. "I have been doing everything that a full candidate that's thinking about, and is moving towards a run for governor would be doing." He told Brad Young on the Mark Reardon Show. "We have one of the broadest networks, fundraising donor networks."
He even promoted his website; www.billeigel.com . The site is headlined, "2024 Eigel for Governor. Exploratory."
All there is to do now is announce.
© 2023 Audacy, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED