Jamie Burger formally announces run for House seat

BENTON, Mo. — A former Scott County presiding commissioner has officially announced his plans to file for candidacy in the race for Missouri’s 148th District state representative.

Jamie Burger, who served on the Scott County Commission for 18 years, previously noted his intentions to run for the seat late last year after losing his bid for another term as presiding commissioner.

Burger said even before he lost the election, he had been approached for years about running for state representative.

So when the door opened for Burger to seek the state representative office for the 148th District, which encompasses portions of Scott and Mississippi counties, he took it.

Burger officially announced Oct. 8 his plans to seek the office — a seat currently held by Rep. Holly Rehder, who is unable to run in 2020 because of term limits.

Will Perry of Scott City is also seeking the seat and running on the Republican ballot.

When asked about his legislative priorities, Burger said it’s to not burden government anymore because every bill adds cost to government and makes government bigger.

“I think we get in there and see what we can tweak to make what we have maybe better,” he said. “I don’t want to do anything to add costs to state government or county government or federal government.”

Burger said some rules and regulations need to be untied.

“We need to let farmers farm — whether it be in livestock or row-crop farming or vegetables or whatever it may be. I think we put too many rules and regulations, even on business and industry,” he said.