POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR SEEKS STATE SENATE SEATE

A political science professor at Southeast Missouri State University has announced he will file for the 27th District Missouri Senate seat held by Republican Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau.

Althaus, a Democrat, has been a member of the university faculty for 16 years. He wants to be the senator representing Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Mississippi, Perry and Scott counties because of the changes taking place in Washington, D.C.

"It is vital that we watch our dollars ever-more closely," he said, "while still providing high-quality service to the public."

With the federal government returning more and more money for state governments to distribute, he said he wants to ensure that the burden of government belt-tightening doesn't fall on working Americans.

"The issues facing the people of Missouri are too important and too complex to be solved by simplistic slogans or partisan extremism," he said. "We must put our best efforts into finding solutions based on cooperation rather than conflict and divisiveness."

Althaus, 44, described himself as a pragmatist and promised a common-sense approach to government.

"My values are pretty much what you might call core Southeast Missouri values: love of God and family, belief in hard work and accountability."

Althaus is a deacon and substitute teacher at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau.

He was raised in St. Louis County and graduated from Parkway Central High School. He received an undergraduate degree in agriculture from the University of Missouri-Columbia where he also received his master's and doctorate in political science.