Rancher announces run for U.S. House seat

A Raymondville, Mo., rancher is throwing his hat into the 8th Congressional District race.

Bob Parker, who has raised beef cattle for 35 years, announced Saturday that he will run for the 8th Congressional District. The district is Missouri's largest.

Parker previously ran in the 2010 Republican primary against 16-year incumbent Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau.

"We are tired of being tired here in southern Missouri," Parker said in the release. "We have seen our good jobs go overseas, our rural economy devastated."

Parker spoke at Lincoln Day events all across the district Saturday, according to the release.

"The time for compromising on principles and saying one thing while voting another way are responsible for getting us into the mess we are in now," he said in the release. "It's time for the conservative pro-life principles of the 8th District to be responsibly represented in D.C. I will not compromise our values, freedom or integrity."