GOP LAWMAKERS VOICE SUPPORT FOR RICHARDSON

State Rep. Mark Richardson doesn't have a drinking problem and shouldn't step down as head of the House Republicans, two Southeast Missouri GOP lawmakers said Sunday.

A third GOP House member said he wasn't aware of any drinking problem and voiced confidence in Richardson.

But Democratic state Rep. Joe Heckemeyer, D-Sikeston, said Richardson's second arrest in two years on drunk-driving charges shows that the Poplar Bluff Republican has a drinking problem.

Richardson was arrested by a Missouri state trooper at about 11 p.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 50, three miles east of Jefferson City.

He was charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to drive within a single lane and child endangerment.

Richardson's 4-year-old daughter, Megan, was with him at the time of his arrest.

He was acquitted of drunken driving and child endangerment charges in 1995 in Arkansas after convincing a judge that cold medicine led to a false breath test. Megan was in the car with him that time, too.

Richardson couldn't be reached for comment Sunday. But on Saturday, he told The Associated Press that there was no excuse for his actions.

"I plan to plead guilty and accept whatever punishment there is.

"I was wrong to drive having consumed any alcohol. I realize that and I apologize. I want to apologize to all my constituents."

A breath test administered to Richardson at the Cole County Courthouse registered a blood-alcohol content of .11 percent. Under state law, a person with a blood-alcohol content of .10 percent is intoxicated.

State Reps. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, and Patrick Naeger, R-Perryville, defended Richardson.

Both said they are good friends with Richardson.

Richardson called a number of lawmakers Saturday to break the news, including Kasten and Naeger.

"He doesn't have a drinking problem," said Kasten. "He is not an alcoholic or anything of the sort."

Naeger said, "I've never seen him drink very much at all."

Said Naeger, "He is a victim, no doubt, of bad luck."

Naeger said Richardson apparently drank a few beers with his neighbors before driving from Poplar Bluff to Jefferson city.

"We all do that," Naeger said.

Both Kasten and Naeger described Richardson as a good family man. "He would never do anything to put them in harm's way," Naeger said.

State Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, also expressed support for Richardson.

"My opinion is, he has been a good leader," said Schwab. "He works late hours for us."

He said he hopes Richardson will remain as House minority floor leader.

"I feel this is just something that does happen and it has got to be worked through," Schwab said.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said, "I don't think it is any of my business to comment."

But one House Republican suggested Richardson might step down as leader of the House Republicans.

"My prediction is that the Republican Party and the Republican legislators will probably not be very tolerant of this in somebody in a leadership position," state Rep. Todd Akin, R-St. Louis County, told The Associated Press.

Heckemeyer said the DWI arrest will hurt Richardson's effectiveness as a political leader.

"Republicans typically don't condone this type of behavior and I think he will probably suffer some repercussions," he said.

Richardson, first elected to the Missouri House in 1990, often was touted as a possible GOP candidate for governor before his 1995 arrest.

He came within one vote of being elected House speaker in January 1995 during an attempted GOP coup.

Richardson is the third state representative to be arrested for drunk driving in recent months. The other two were Democrats.

Heckemeyer said it isn't uncommon for state and federal lawmakers to have drinking problems.

"This job is a high pressure job. I think it does lead to some drinking problems," said Heckemeyer.

He said the late congressman Bill Emerson overcame a drinking problem by going to a treatment center.

"I think Mark needs some help, too," said Heckemeyer.

Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, said Richardson's arrest reflects badly on all lawmakers.

"It kind of reinforces a stereotype that the public holds," he said.

But Thomason said lawmakers shouldn't be held to a higher standard than the general public.

"We are average humans and average Missourians and that is what we are supposed to be," he said.

"The thing that the public will never see and never understand is the stress that the job puts you under, and it can cause extremely moral people to make mistakes," Thomason said.