The race for the Missouri State Senate 8th District is getting crowded as two additional Republican state representatives have announced their candidacy.
On Tuesday, state Rep. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, announced that he will run for the seat in August.
Apparently, so is state Rep. Gary Dusenberg, who has announced his intentions on his Facebook profile. The Blue Springs Republican now represents the 54th District, but faces term limits at the end of next the Missouri General Assembly session in May.
Another Eastern Jackson County Missouri legislator, state Rep. Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, previously announced he was running for the 8th District seat. Pratt now represents the 55th District.
State Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee’s Summit, now holds the seat that encompasses much of Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs and Eastern Jackson County, but is term limited in May.
To date, no Democrats have announced plans to run for the seat. Primary elections will take place in August with the General Election following in November.
Former state Rep. Brian Yates, R-Lee’s Summit, also had considered running for the Senate seat, but he resigned last week from the 56th District, citing term limits and a young family as his top priority, and announced he would not run for the Senate seat. Yates said Tuesday he is endorsing Kraus.
Kraus, 36, says he doesn’t consider himself a politician.
“I’m a statesman,” Kraus said. “I believe in a representative government where we listen to people and take their views back to Jefferson City and represent them, not just push our own ideology. There are a lot of issues that are not just Republican/Democratic issues, like health care.”
Kraus was first elected to District 48 in 2004, which serves parts of Lee’s Summit, Kansas City and Raytown. His previous political experience includes filing for the Raytown City Council election in 2003; however, Kraus said he withdrew his candidacy after his deployment to Iraq.
Outside of politics, Kraus owns a small real estate business and serves as a helicopter pilot and supply officer in the U.S. Army Reserves. He said Eastern Jackson County’s top legislative priorities include the protection of unborn lives, Second Amendment rights, the reduction of tax burdens on Missouri families and the minimization of the size of government.
“I think that we need to work together when we can on issues, and we need to stand firm on our principles on other issues,” Kraus said. “For example, if the Democrats in the Missouri General Assembly want to raise taxes, that’s a time when we would need to make a stand to reduce taxes and the burden on Eastern Jackson County families.”
