Hulshof starts campaign for Mo. governor

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof began his campaign for governor Monday with three stops in central and southwest Missouri, avoiding any digs against his fellow Republican contenders while declaring health care a top priority.

Hulshof, 49, said he wants to build upon what he called the progress of the past 3 1/2 years under outgoing Gov. Matt Blunt, whose surprise decision not to run for re-election shocked his fellow Republicans and has yielded a crowded primary field.

Hulshof, of Columbia, announced last week that he was running for governor, joining Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau and Treasurer Sarah Steelman in the Republican primary.

Attorney General Jay Nixon is the only Democrat in the governor's race. Hulshof worked as a special prosecutor in Nixon's office before winning a House seat in 1996.

At a Springfield campaign event, Hulshof said Monday that a top priority would be reforms in health care. Blunt also has focused on health care, first cutting benefits to Medicaid recipients, then giving the program a greater emphasis on preventive health care, and more recently proposing to expand government-subsidized health care to the uninsured.

Republican Congressman Kenny Hulshof talks about his intent to run for governor of Missouri at a news conference in Springfield, Mo., Monday, Feb. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

"I think all of our leaders in Jefferson City have had to make tough choices," Hulshof said. "Where we are today as a state, as opposed to where we were three-and-a-half years ago, there have been many progresses made. I look to build upon those progresses."