GOP lawmaker wants Kinder to forgo governor bid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A freshman House Republican on Tuesday called on Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder to forgo his expected bid for governor because of Kinder's recent acknowledgement that repeatedly visited a strip club in the mid-1990s.

Rep. Kevin Elmer, of Nixa, is the first Republican state official to publicly urge Kinder to abandon his Republican gubernatorial campaign plans, though a major donor to Kinder's campaign suggested the same thing several days ago.

"It is time for Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder to step away from his campaign to be elected as Missouri's governor in 2012," Elmer wrote in a publicly distributed statement he described as an editorial. "His irresponsible decisions in his personal life have impugned his ability to lead publicly from a principled position."

Although he has not officially announced his candidacy, Kinder has been gearing up to challenge Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon in the 2012 elections.

Kinder acknowledged last week that he visited an Illinois strip club about 10 times when he was a state senator 17 years ago. Kinder, 57, said he now considers that a "foolish choice" made "as a young single man." Kinder acknowledged the strip club visits after the Riverfront Times, a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, first published an interview with former exotic dancer Tammy Chapman, who said Kinder was a client.

Kinder's campaign issued a statement Tuesday saying "the lieutenant governor continues to enjoy strong support from all across the state" and intends to keep his campaign focused on plans to create jobs and improve the economy.

"The vast majority of grassroots supporters, donors and other elected officials have seen this for what it is; the Democrats trying to distract from the third worst job loss rate in the country, a Nixon record of zero accomplishment, and an electorate fed up with politics as usual," it said.

The campaign said Kinder would reach out to Elmer to discuss the situation and that Kinder did not plan to comment on Elmer's editorial before talking to him.

Elmer said he had not spoken with Kinder or state Republican Party leaders before releasing his editorial calling on Kinder not to run for governor. But Elmer told The Associated Press that rank-and-file Republicans -- and some other state lawmakers -- have expressed frustration to him about Kinder.

Elmer said Kinder's explanation that his actions occurred when he was a young man at age 40 "fails to pass muster."

"I am a 40 year-old state representative and I can tell you sitting in a dark club sipping wine while watching women take off their clothes for money is impermissible behavior for someone elected to be a leader in the community," Elmer wrote in his public statement.

Elmer told the AP: "A decision in someone's private life is really clouding what we need to talk about -- it's detracting from the need for our political debate to center on what we're doing to create jobs and grow the economy in Missouri."

Last Friday, Politico reported that Joplin businessman David Humphreys -- a major financial donor to Kinder -- had asked the lieutenant governor to forego a 2012 campaign, requested that his donations be returned and warned that he would support Nixon if Kinder is the Republican nominee for governor. Like Elmer, Humphreys cited the recent revelations about Kinder's past strip-club visits.