Region builds clout in state government

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With the large number of Southeast Missouri residents holding prominent elected and appointed positions in state government, the region could be in the midst of a second golden age in terms of its influence on statewide public policy decisions.

As new Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau put it: "With all these folks from Southeast Missouri, it looks like Warren Hearnes all over again."

While governor from 1965 to 1973, Hearnes of Charleston named a significant number of area residents to high-ranking government posts, as did his predecessor, governor John Dalton of Kennett, from 1961 to 1965.

The key difference between then and now, however, is that Dalton, Hearnes and their subordinates were Democrats and the new wave of Southeast Missouri political talent is predominantly Republican.

Commissioner of administration Mike Keathley of Bernie said it is a sign of the slow political transformation of the area over the last two decades.

"It does speak to the changing political dynamic in Southeast Missouri that the region would be so represented in a Republican administration," Keathley said. "Thirty years ago, people wouldn't have believed it."

Although new Gov. Matt Blunt hails from southwest Missouri, he has paid particular attention to the other side of the state in putting together his administration.

"Southeast Missouri has a strong reputation for producing some top-notch people," said Paul Sloca, Blunt's spokesman. "The governor feels the kind of work ethic coming from Southeast Missouri is just the kind of work ethic he is looking for."

Blunt's selection of Keathley to head the Missouri Office of Administration, which oversees the day-to-day operations of state government, was the first of several area residents Blunt picked for top roles on his team.

While Senate president pro tem, Kinder hired Keathley, a successful business owner, as Senate administrator in 2002. Kinder said Keathley's performance has helped pave the way for other Southeast Missouri residents to join the Blunt administration.

Among other area residents Blunt has placed in prominent posts are Fred Ferrell, a Charleston farmer and agribusiness owner, as director of the Department of Agriculture and King Sidwell, a Sikeston lawyer, as adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard.

Blunt hasn't looked strictly to area Republicans in assembling his team. In January, he named Stephen Bradford of Cape Girardeau as co-chairman of the newly created State Government Review Commission, which is charged with spearheading the first major reorganization and streamlining of Missouri government in three decades. Bradford has served in the administrations of five governors of both parties and also holds a Democratic seat on the Missouri Conservation Commission, the independent board that oversees the state Department of Conservation.

Blunt also tabbed Dexter native Bill Ringer, a Kansas City lawyer and Republican, as chairman of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission, a powerful administrative review panel that hears cases involving workers' compensation and unemployment compensation claims.

In addition to those serving in the Blunt administration, Southeast Missouri also boasts two political heavyweights in Kinder and House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill.

Kinder became the first person from Cape Girardeau County to hold the lieutenant governor post in 150 years.

In assuming the speaker's post in January, Jetton became the first Southeast Missourian in that powerful position since Democrat Willis Meredith of Poplar Bluff in 1933.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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