COPELAND WON'T RUN; HEARNES FILES FOR SEAT

One veteran lawmaker is leaving the Missouri Legislature, and a second hopes to take his place

State Rep. Gene Copeland, D-New Madrid, said Tuesday he won't seek re-election to the seat he has held in Missouri's 161st District since 1960.

Betty Hearnes of Charleston, a former state representative from the old 160th District, filed the same day as a Democrat for Copeland's post.

Copeland, the longtime dean of the General Assembly, has endorsed Hearnes's candidacy. Copeland, 65, said: "I'm one of the ones that wanted her to run. We need somebody that's got some experience."

Copeland said it is time to step down.

"There wasn't any one thing that's prompted my decision," he said. "I've been about ready to retire for the last couple of terms. I've been here long enough. I need to get out and play golf or do something," he said.

He said he will miss the Legislature, including the many friends he has made on both sides of the aisle, but he doesn't enjoy the job as much as he used to.

"It's not as much fun as it used to be," Copeland said. "I've heard most of this stuff over and over. It's gotten boring."

Copeland was the target of an investigation into alleged vote-buying after his 1996 race. The scheme was allegedly perpetrated by Democratic operatives in the Bootheel. Copeland was never named as having direct involvement in the alleged scheme, and a federal grand jury convened last year to investigate the allegations has not brought any indictments.

Hearnes, who lives in Charleston, said Tuesday she is a natural choice for the office.

"I like the work, and the incumbent was not going to run. I represented this area for 10 years," she said.

Hearnes' priorities include education, industrial development and mental health services. She serves on the state's Mental Health Commission.

"The issues that I usually am involved with are the issues that concern the people of this district," she said. "I try to take care of their needs. That's the way I did it before, and that's the way I'll do it this time."

She also has been active in trying to preserve the old Mississippi County Courthouse, which burned last year.

The wife of former governor Warren Hearnes, she represented the old 160th District from 1979 until she gave up the seat in 1988 to run for the governor's mansion herself. She lost to then-incumbent John Ashcroft.

Hearnes, 69, ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 1992 against Peter Kinder, a Cape Girardeau Republican.

She said she doubts the unsuccessful races will have much impact on her bid for the House.

Copeland chairs the House Banks and Financial Institution Committee. He serves on the Appropriations-General Administration, Local Government and Related Matters, and Professional Registration and Licensing committees.

He also serves on the Deferred Compensation, the Missouri Tourism, and the Block Grant Oversight commissions.

He was the Democrats' majority caucus chairman from 1985 to 1996.

In 1991, redistricting changed the boundaries of the 160th and 161st districts.

While in the House, Hearnes served on the Appropriations Committee for Education and Transportation. She was vice chairwoman of the Committee on Agri-Business. She also served on committees for education, public health and safety and elections.

A former educator, she chaired the Joint Committee on Correctional Institutions and Problems, which carried out a detailed analysis of the state's prison system that led to the decision to build more correctional centers.