New Senate map pits Wallingford against Brandom

Rep. Ellen Brandom summed up Thursday's shake-up this way: "Crazy, isn't it?"

A third redrawn Missouri Senate map was released Thursday, this time constructing boundaries that -- if they stand -- would pit the Sikeston Republican against her fellow sitting House member, Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau, in the GOP's August primary.

The new map, reached in a deal Thursday by a bipartisan state redistricting commission, reinstates Cape Girardeau and Scott counties into the 27th District, along with Bollinger, Perry, Madison and Wayne.

The previous map was struck down in January by the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that a plan submitted by a special panel of judges violated the state constitution by dividing Jackson and Greene counties into too many separate districts.

The new map basically removes Mississippi County from the existing 27th, represented by outgoing Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, and replaces it with Wayne County.

Wayne Wallingford

A previous map had Cape Girardeau County in the 3rd District and Scott in the 25th, but the most recent map removes Farmington businessman Gary Romine from the local picture and reinstates Brandom, who announced for the 27th in Cape Girardeau last June.

Now Brandom and Wallingford, who each could have sought another House term, are facing an Aug. 7 Republican primary that will send one to the Senate and the other out of the legislature altogether if no one else enters the race.

"I would have loved to have both of them," said Holly Lintner, the Republican committee chairwoman for the 27th District. "The way it's going now, one is going to be the sacrificial lamb. It's sad, as hard as both of them have worked."

Predictions are hard to make at this point, Lintner said, but she presumes that each candidate would carry their home county, leaving the others up for grabs. She said Wallingford's military background could give him an edge.

"But Ellen's a powerful force," Lintner said. "She's more seasoned as a state rep. She's been a huge fundraiser and a moneymaker for the party and the House Republican Committee. She brings a lot of respect with that."

The fundraising imbalance is stark. The most recent campaign finance reports filed in January showed that Brandom had raised nearly $198,000 compared to Wallingford's $4,273.

Wallingford said Thursday he's in the race to the end and he has not once considered the perhaps safer route of staying in his House seat.

"Either way I was going to have a primary," Wallingford said. "I was prepared for that. I'm running on my own record and not against anyone. Being a 25-year combat veteran, I'm not used to the words 'retreat' or 'surrender.'"

Wallingford did acknowledge that it was "unfortunate" that he faces the prospect of running against Brandom, whom he endorsed under a previous map proposal. He also admitted he will be playing catch-up to balance the financial equation. But he noted that when he was first elected to the House in 2010, he was outspent by his opponent 6-to-1 and he won that race.

"Money's important; it pays for the ads to get the message out," he said. "But it's not everything."

For her part, Brandom said she was happy with the new map and pleased that she has an opportunity to represent Cape Girardeau County. Brandom said that she had a nagging suspicion all along that the final map would put her in a district that included Cape Girardeau County.

"It might be a little awkward with Wayne," she said. "But all along I thought I'd be running in Cape. It's been so hectic. I've basically been concentrating on two districts. I certainly hope this map holds up. This has been very stressful."

The tentative map is to be submitted to the Missouri secretary of state's office, which will be followed by a 15-day waiting period before the 10-member redistricting commission can file a final map. Approving the final Senate plan requires seven votes.

Romine, still in the 3rd -- which now is north of the new 27th -- will face Rep. Joe Fallert, D-Ste. Genevieve, in the general election in November. Romine said he likes the map and thinks it's a better map for him to run in.

"But my main reaction is we need to get something done so we can get about preparing for a campaign so our voters and constituents can be prepared," he said. "We need a decision made so we can move forward."

Filing is set to begin Tuesday unless legislation currently in the Senate can be passed to delay the start of the period. That legislation stalled before a voice vote Thursday and might be taken up again early next week.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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