INCUMBENT PETER KINDER WINS A SECOND TERM IN STATE SENATE

In the race for Missouri's 27th Senatorial District, incumbent Peter Kinder said voters responded to his message of "common-sense conservatism."

He won over challenger Rick Althaus Tuesday, 40,412 to 22,999.

Kinder, a Cape Girardeau Republican, was seeking re-election to a second term in the Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 1992.

Althaus, a political science professor at Southeast Missouri State University, was seeking the seat on the Democratic ticket. This was Althaus's first run for public office.

The senatorial district includes Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Mississippi, Perry and Scott counties.

Kinder won in all six counties in the district. In Cape Girardeau County, he won by about a 2-1 margin.

"I've taken a pretty bold and uncompromising stand in my defense of the rights of the unborn, the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and the rights of small-business owners," Kinder said.

He added, "My sensible, mainstream environmental approach came under attack by the Sierra Club in paid radio ads."

Kinder didn't respond to the ads, but said Tuesday, "The voters have spoken on what they want to see."

As he returns to Jefferson City, Kinder said his job will be to redouble efforts, especially on the appropriations committee.

"We need to deliver for our schools, especially Southeast Missouri State University, the vo-tech school in Cape Girardeau and the vo-tech campus of Southeast Missouri State University at Sikeston."