LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS FROM ELECTION

Cape Girardeau lawyer David Rosener won't be hustling for votes this fall.

He has withdrawn as a Libertarian candidate for state representative for District 158 because he says he first wants to put his life in order.

Rosener said Wednesday that he also needed to devote his time to representing his legal clients.

"As it turned out, I just got bottle-necked toward the end of September and the first part of October with several trials," he said.

Rosener's action ensures that state Rep. Mary Kasten will be re-elected in November to a ninth term. She has served as the district's representative since 1982. The district covers most of the city of Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau Republican said she was pleased by Rosener's decision.

"That is wonderful news," she said. "I won't have to campaign. That will be a relief."

Kasten said she has never met Rosener, but she wished him well.

Rosener said, "I have been challenged to seek purity in my heart before being ready to represent a constituency."

He represented Regina's House of Dolls strip-tease club in its legal battles in 1995 and 1996 with the city of Cape Girardeau over adult-business restrictions.

Cape Girardeau police arrested Rosener in May after finding him in possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana.

He pleaded guilty on May 11 to the misdemeanor drug charge. He was fined $200 and ordered to pay court costs.

Rosener said his arrest had caused him to take stock of his life in what he said amounted to a "cleansing process.

"I still believe that marijuana should be decriminalized. It hasn't destroyed as many families as alcohol," he said.

But Rosener, who is in his 30s, said his priorities have changed. "I feel like I am being led in a different direction," he said.

Rosener said he doesn't know if he will run for political office in the future. "I am not sure what God has in store for me," said Rosener.

He said he first decided to run because he felt the political system wasn't benefiting the common man.

"My belief was and remains that this attitude creates a process whereby our liberties are continually decreased," he said. "I wanted to protect and serve our freedoms at the capitol."

Rosener said he hoped the Libertarian Party would field another candidate for the state representative seat in November.

To do so, the Libertarian Party's county committee would have to select a candidate within the next few weeks.

Committee Chairman Greg Tlapek doubts the party will field another candidate for the state representative seat this fall.

Tlapek said only one person expressed an interest in seeking the office.

Tlapek, who is running for county clerk, said he considered switching over to run for the state representative seat. But he rejected the idea.

The Libertarian Party's 14-member county committee is scheduled to meet next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau County Administration Building in Jackson.

That meeting was scheduled before Rosener withdrew from the race.

But Tlapek encouraged anyone interested in running for the state legislative seat to attend the committee meeting.

Tlapek, who serves on the Libertarian Party's state executive committee, said he won't be at the meeting.

Tlapek said he will be in Sedalia handing out party literature at the State Fair.

He said he was disappointed that Rosener has withdrawn from the race.

The public deserves a choice at the polls because uncontested races simply don't interest the voters, Tlapek said. "If you want people to vote, you've got to give them somebody else to vote for."