Murray declares for Missouri House district

Holts Summit Alderperson Pam Murray has announced she intends to run as a Democratic candidate for the new 49th District of the Missouri House of Representatives.
Holts Summit Alderperson Pam Murray has announced she intends to run as a Democratic candidate for the new 49th District of the Missouri House of Representatives.

Pam Murray, who has served as a member of the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen since 2005, has decided to file as a Democratic candidate for the new 49th District of the Missouri House of Representatives.

Murray is the third person, and the only Democrat, to announce for the district. The first day to file for county and state offices is Feb. 28.

Two Republican candidates, Travis Fitzwater, a pharmaceutical association executive, and Philip Todd, a brick mason, have announced they intend to file for the district.

The area in Callaway County is now served by Rep. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane. Riddle has announced she intends to run for the Missouri Senate and does not plan to seek re-election to the Missouri House.

Under redistricting of the Missouri House, which is required every 10 years after each U.S. census, the newly created 49th District includes most of the western part of Callaway County and a small portion of Cole County northwest of Jefferson City.

The newly created 49 District of the Missouri House includes the cities of Fulton, Holts Summit, Kingdom City, New Bloomfield, Lake Mykee, and about 1,800 people in Cole County northwest of Jefferson City.

"For the past four years," Murray said, "I have watched as the rhetoric in Missouri's General Assembly has overtaken any pretense of actually helping working families in our communities. Ideology has replaced common sense. Partisan politics have replaced our children's rights to a proper and well-funded education."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.