JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Former Missouri congressman Russ Carnahan has created a committee to run for lieutenant governor, the first step in an attempted political comeback several years after losing his U.S. House seat.
Carnahan filed paperwork Friday with the Missouri Ethics Commission, setting up a Democratic campaign committee.
He served eight years in the U.S. House before losing a 2012 primary to Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. after redistricting merged parts of their two St. Louis area districts. Missouri lost a congressional seat because the 2010 census showed the state's population failed to keep pace with growth in other states.
Several other people already are running for lieutenant governor this year, including Democrats Winston Apple, Brad Bradshaw and state Rep. Tommie Pierson. The Republican primary includes Bev Randles and state Sen. Mike Parson.
Missouri's governor and lieutenant governor run separately. The second-ranking executive post is expected to be open because Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who has served as lieutenant governor since 2005, is instead running for governor.
Carnahan declined to comment Friday about his campaign.
He sent an email to friends and supporters saying, "I will soon be officially announcing my candidacy for Lt. Governor of Missouri."
Carnahan's grandfather served in Congress and his father, Mel Carnahan, was governor of Missouri before dying in a 2000 plane crash while campaigning for U.S. Senate. Voters elected Mel Carnahan posthumously, and his widow, Jean Carnahan was appointed to fill his Senate seat.
Russ Carnahan won his first election - to the Missouri House - three weeks after his father's death and was later elected to the U.S. House in 2004. That same year, his sister, Robin Carnahan, won the first of her two terms as Missouri secretary of state.