Naeger exits state Senate race

Saying that the tumult of the ongoing redistricting has created too much uncertainty, Perryville, Mo., Republican Pat Naeger has dropped out of the race for Missouri Senate.

Naeger, who previously served eight years in the Missouri House, said he decided to get out of the race after the Missouri Supreme Court threw out the newly redrawn Senate districts earlier this month.

With just a few weeks until the filing period is set to begin Feb. 28, Naeger said he had no confidence that the process will result in districts that make sense for him.

Naeger said he couldn't go forward "with an all-out campaign asking my friends, family or anyone else to support me financially when no one even knows what the district will look like. It's like betting on a poker hand without any cards."

The Supreme Court's ruling essentially started the whole process over to redraw a Senate map in light of the 2010 census. The court invalidated the newest map that was drawn last year, saying that the panel of judges violated the state constitution by dividing Jackson and Greene counties into too many separate districts.

Both major political parties are working to get Gov. Jay Nixon nominations so he can appoint a new bipartisan citizens commission. If they can't decide on a new map, it will again go to the courts.

Naeger announced his Senate candidacy for what was the 3rd District on the new map, which -- under the map that was struck down -- would have included Cape Girardeau, Perry, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties.

Now, Naeger said he has no idea what the new district will look like and he's not waiting around to find out.

"This is incredible uncertainty," he said. "Those district lines really favored me incredibly. Who knows what the deal is going to be now?"

Naeger also said he intends to return "every penny" of campaign donations he'd collected, about $14,000.

In that wiped out 3rd District, Rep. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, was set to run against Farmington, Mo., businessman Gary Romine. Both said Friday that even though Naeger is out, they still don't know who their opponents will be.

Wallingford, who spent Friday campaigning in Perry County, said he was surprised to hear that Naeger was dropping out.

"I was in for the long haul, the big fight," Wallingford said.

There are a lot of theories floating around the state capital about what will happen next, with the most recent one being that the existing senatorial map will stay the way it is, Wallingford said.

"It's been a wild ride," Wallingford said. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

The 27th District is represented by Sen. Jason Crowell, who is being pushed out by term limits this year. The 27th is made up of Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Mississippi, Perry and Scott counties.

If the 27th is still the same for the August primary and November general election, Romine would not be running in the race and it would set up a likely Republican primary between two incumbents, drawing Rep. Ellen Brandom back into the race for the 27th District.

Romine said the uncertainty is changing his strategy. For example, on Friday night, he was attending a chamber of commerce banquet in Cape Girardeau and he's not even sure the city will be in his district when all is said and done.

"It's disheartening to the whole election process that we can't get a map to work off of," Romine said. "It's not fair to the candidates or the voters. We may see some other good candidates drop out. There's not a comfort level about this no matter where you look."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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