SMITH CONSIDERS RUN FOR SEAT OF LONGTIME BOSS

Should 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson decide to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, Emerson's chief of staff, Lloyd Smith, says he will give serious consideration to seeking Emerson's House seat.

Smith, who will turn 42 in July, has been on the congressman's staff since March 1981 - two months after Emerson took office.

Smith said he has received encouragement to run for Congress if the seat becomes open and has discussed the possibility with Emerson. But Smith said for now his focus is on Emerson: to help him decide on the Senate race and to help him be an effective voice for his district in Congress.

Smith is Emerson's top aide. He is in charge of both his 8th District and Washington, D.C., staffs.

"The encouragement I would be getting is from people who are strong Emerson supporters and want to be sure a good conservative, who has knowledge of the 8th District and is electable, is the nominee," said Smith. "I would not be so bold as to say I am the only person considered electable ... In fact, most people I talk to would rather have Bill Emerson as their congressman than anyone else. We do have a lot of good people out there who could be in Congress from the 8th District."

Smith said: "I have an institutional knowledge of the 8th District, I know a lot of people, and have been involved in five campaigns out of the seven. I do have a fairly broad knowledge of the 8th District, the media, projects we have been working on, and legislation that has been important."

Smith said any decision this year about a Senate race will be decided on what is best for Emerson, not for himself.

"Bill and I had talked about that as a potential at some point, but with the understanding I would not seriously think about it until he made a decision about his political future that might open up that opportunity," said Smith. "We have never tried to map out some strategy whereby we have some master plan.

"If he decides to run for the Senate, that will be a decision he makes solely from a political and personal perspective. He is going through that assessment process now, but it is not a decision he would make by looking to who is going to succeed him."

Smith said he has no timetable for making a decision if Emerson decides to run for the Senate.

Smith said his experience working for Emerson would be an asset.

"Certainly I would know the players and know the rules of the game," said Smith. "I know FEC laws, how to budget for a campaign, how to organize a campaign and raise money ... No one else who would run has been involved in as many congressional campaigns as I have."

A number of Republicans are mentioned as potential candidates for the seat if Emerson seeks higher office. Besides Smith, among those mentioned are: Charles Kruse of Dexter, former state agriculture director and now president of Missouri Farm Bureau; state Rep. Mark Richardson of Poplar Bluff; former state representative David Steelman, a Rolla attorney who lost a race for attorney general last year; Wendell Bailey of Willow Springs, a former one-term congressman who lost a bid for the GOP nomination for governor last year after serving eight years as state treasurer; and state Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau, a former aide and campaign manager for Emerson.

Among the Democrats reportedly interested in the race are: state Sen. Danny Staples of Eminence; former state representative Joe Driskill, now director of the Department of Economic Development; Gov. Mel Carnahan's son, Rolla attorney Russ Carnahan, who lost the race to Emerson in 1990; Emily Ferguson-Firebaugh, a business owner from Fredericktown; and state Rep. Dennis Ziegenhorn of Sikeston.

Smith, a native of East Prairie, lives in Sikeston. He and his wife, a teacher, have three children. Along with his younger brothers, Smith operates a 211-acre row-crop farm at East Prairie.

Before starting work for Emerson, Smith worked for Farm Bureau.

Emerson likely will decide this summer whether to seek the Senate seat being vacated by Republican John Danforth. Once Emerson makes his decision, Smith will start making his.

Said Smith: "I would take a very serious look at it, and probably go through some of the same assessment that anybody would go through. I have some intrinsic knowledge of what it means to be a congressman, the time it takes to serve, what it means to your family, and how much effort it will take to move toward a goal of winning.

"But I have not set out a master strategy for this race because that would be premature at this point."