Rep. Burger to seek Sen. Rehder's seat

Jamie Burger, a longtime Scott County commissioner and current representative in the state House, announced plans Friday to run for the Senate seat held by Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder.

The District 27 Senate district represents the counties of Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Iron, Madison, Perry, Reynolds and Scott.

Rehder has announced she is running for lieutenant governor.

Burger, in his fourth year and second term, said in a phone interview that his plans to eventually land in the Senate were expedited by Rehder's announcement to run for a statewide office. He said his original plan was to serve eight years in the house, and then run for Senate when Rehder termed out.

With Rehder running for statewide office and Burger having already attained a House leadership position, he said he thought the timing was right to jump into the Senate political pool.

"In the Senate, you have so much more to offer your district and across the state," he said. "In the House, bills are easy to pass and move on to the Senate, and they die on the vine over there."

He said he thinks he can work to get more bills passed in the Senate. He said his current role as assitant floor leader, the No. 4 position in the House, has taught him a lot about how things work at the Capital.

"It's been rather eye-opening," he said of the leadership position.

He was voted into the position last fall. He said he had made earlier goals to ascend the leadership ladder in the House, but said ultimately he thought he could have more influence for the Southeast Missouri area in the senate.

In his announcement, Burger said he will stand against government overreach and said he would help try to "right the ship" on values, such as abortion and guns.

In addition to Burger's role in Scott County government, he was also manager at Buzzi Unicem, USA, for more than three decades.

"I've been part of the Cape Girardeau regional business community for over 30 years," Burger said in his statement, which was distributed to media outlets by David Barklage, a longtime political consultant. "I understand the challenges facing the economy in the Cape Girardeau area, and I am best to represent those interests in Jefferson City."

During his phone interview, he reiterated his economic priorities, saying he wanted the state to help more with workforce development, to provide more training opportunities for skills jobs in areas such as welding, electrical and plumbing and to supplement the education possibilities offered by colleges and universities. Those types of jobs, he said, are in high demand, and not everyone is cut out to attend college.

Burger was born and raised in Scott County, where he attends St. Denis Catholic Church, serving as lector and Eucharistic minister, according to his news release. He is a member of National Rifle Association and the Knights of Columbus as well as multiple chambers of commerce.

Burger said constituents have kept telling him the same mantra: "Stop the woke agenda coming out of D.C. and protect our small towns from the dangers of Biden's open-border policies," he said in his statement. "People don't want complicated things -- they just want big government to stay out of their lives."

In his phone interview, Burger said he has tested the waters about a Senate run: "The support has been very, very overwhelming. I prayed about it and talked about it with my family, and this is the direction we're going."

Burger has also served on the Agriculture Policy, Local Government and Transportation committees.

Burger has walked an atypical path into state government. He was a Democrat during his 18 years as a county commissioner, including 12 as the presiding commissioner. In 2018, he lost his re-election bid for commissioner to Jim Glueck. Burger switched parties in 2020 to run for the District 148 seat, held by Rehder, who had reached her term limit.

Burger said he is not worried about his past political affiliation with the Democratic party, saying he's the same person now that he was in his years as county commission. He said the party is not what it once was and left people like him and many others behind.

Between his work in the capital, Burger said he will be visiting all the counties in the Senate district to understand the priorities in each area.