State senator wins new 116th House seat

With a margin of nearly 1,000 votes, Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, won the new 116th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. The two-term state senator defeated Farmington city councilman John Robinson with 2,500 votes to Robinson's 1,559 votes.

Engler will replace Rep. Steve Tilley, who could not seek re-election due to term limits. Engler couldn't run for another term in the Senate due to term limits. No candidates from other parties filed for the seat.

The counties and cities that make up the new 116th House District are slightly different from Tilley's 106th. The 116th still includes portions of Perry, Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties, but now it includes just one-third of Perryville's city limits -- while Tilley had half -- and two-thirds of Farmington -- which Tilley represented all of.

"I really want to thank the people of Perry County," Engler said. "Most of them remembered us from 10 years ago when I represented that area."

Engler served one term in the House from 2003 to 2005 before being elected to the Senate.

While some would consider his run for the House a step backward, Engler said he hopes to bring experience to the House.

"I'll have about five times the experience of the average House member, and hopefully they'll let me impart some wisdom," Engler said.

Engler said that this session he hopes to work on legislation to protect landlords and shore up the state's teacher retirement fund, which lost $1.7 billion in the last fiscal year. "They're almost 7 billion in the red. We're going to work with retired and current teachers to stabilize that fund."

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

Perryville, Mo.