REP. JOE DRISKILL WEIGHS CHALLENGING SEN. HOWARD

JEFFERSON CITY - State Rep. Joe Driskill of Doniphan said Tuesday he hopes to decide before Christmas whether to challenge state Sen. Jerry Howard in the Democratic primary next year.

"At this point I have made no decision, but I am obviously interested in looking at opportunities to run for other offices," said Driskill. "But I will have to wait a little longer.

"It is fair to say I am interested and looking around; I may be satisfied running for re-election in my House district. I'll see how the next few weeks develop."

Howard, of Dexter, won a special election to his 25th District seat in December 1990 after Sen. Steve Sharp resigned to accept a circuit judgeship in Stoddard and Dunklin counties.

Driskill was among four candidates who attempted to get the nomination of the 25th Senatorial District Democratic Committee in October 1990, but he finished second in the balloting to Howard.

Howard said he plans to file again. Driskill "just has to get his money together and get with it if he is going to do it," said Howard. "I'm going to file. It seems to me, with as much seniority as he has in the House now, Joe would be better off where he is."

One factor that will have an impact on Driskill's decision is the design of the new senatorial district lines. A panel of six state appeals court judges has until Dec. 21 to finish a new map.

The present 25th District includes the counties of Stoddard, Dunklin, Pemiscot, Butler, Ripley, and Carter. However, it is about 10,000 people under the ideal size and will have to be changed.

Driskill's present 154th District, which he has represented since 1983, includes Ripley and Wayne counties and a part of Butler County. If the senatorial district remains intact, and Wayne County is added, Driskill said he might be inclined to run.

But at this point both Driskill and Howard agreed that they have no idea what the final district map will look like.

Howard suggested to the panel of judges that it needs to consider a district along the Mississippi River consisting of Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cape Girardeau, Scott, and Mississippi counties. He proposed a shift of Bollinger and New Madrid counties from the present 27th District served by Sen. John Dennis to his district, and then moving Ripley and Carter counties to the district of Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence.

"That seems like a logical plan to me," said Howard.

Such a move would give Staples more of an Ozarks district and cut the size of his district, Howard said. In his present district, Staples has a distance of almost 300 miles by road from one end to the other.

Driskill's new House district takes away a portion of his home base in Ripley County and runs him into Bollinger County to include Marble Hill. In anticipation of a possible bid for re-election to the House, Driskill said he has spent a lot of time in the new part of his district and believes he can run well.

Besides considering a race for a sixth term in the House and a Senate race, Driskill said he is looking at "one other race." He declined to reveal what that was.

Driskill, however, has expressed some interest in the past about running for Congress or a statewide office such as treasurer.

As for the Senate race, Driskill said, "I have gotten a lot of encouragement the last few weeks and during the past year. It's all been very flattering."

Howard said he believes Driskill would be better off using his seniority in the House to seek a leadership position that would help Southeast Missouri.

Said Howard: "I think he'd be well advised to be thinking about majority leader and then speaker of the House. I think it's time Southeast Missouri had a speaker."

The senator pointed out that the present speaker, Bob Griffin, is probably nearing the end of his tenure and a change in leadership will occur soon.

"Joe has a lot of potential over there in the House," said Howard.

Driskill presently serves as chairman of the Commerce Committee, considered one of the most important committees in the House. It handles a variety of bills related to business and economic development.

Driskill said regardless of what he decides to do politically next year, he anticipates a very busy legislative session.

"I have consented to sponsor a number of pieces of legislation related to things like economic development," said Driskill. "Again, my No. 1 concern is to use my role as chairman of the House Commerce Committee to put forward new bills and policies that will try to stimulate the economy."