REPUBLICAN LAWYER TAKES AIM AT JAY NIXON

Mount Vernon lawyer Sam Jones wants to send Attorney General Jay Nixon packing.

Jones, 54, currently is the only Republican candidate for attorney general.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, had considered throwing his hat in the ring.

But Jones said Saturday that he has talked with state Republican Party officials who have indicated that no other Republican is likely to challenge the Democratic incumbent.

Kinder hasn't publicly talked about his future plans.

Jones told the 500 party faithful at U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's political picnic in Cape Girardeau that Kinder could be the next president pro tem of the Missouri Senate if the GOP takes control of the Legislature.

Kinder may run for a third term in the Missouri Senate next year.

Jones has roots in Cape Girardeau. His father's family farmed near Millersville.

Jones' father graduated from Jackson High School in 1922 and taught at the Millersville School.

Jones' father suffered from tuberculosis. The family moved to Mount Vernon so Jones' father could be treated at a state hospital.

Jones criticized Nixon's handling of the tobacco settlement case.

He said the private lawyers hired by Nixon to represent the state stand to make $400 million from the tobacco settlement.

Jones said those trial lawyers have been repeated contributors to the Nixon campaign.

Jones, a former prosecuting attorney in Lawrence County, chaired the State Tax Commission from 1981 to 1986.

He was an associate circuit judge from 1991 to 1998.

Jones said he expects to spend about $1.5 million in his effort to unseat Nixon.