Two candidates have been selected for the Aug. 8 special election to fill the vacant 28th Senatorial District seat.
Both the Republican and Democratic 28th Senatorial District Committees met Saturday to vote on their respective candidates for the special election, which was called by Gov. Eric Greitens to fill the seat left by Lt. Gov. Mike Parson.
The 58th District includes portions of Benton, Cedar, Dallas, Hickory, Laclede, Pettis, Polk and St. Clair counties, which will remain unrepresented until the August election.
Republicans have chosen a face already familiar in Jefferson City, state Rep. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo. According to Carla Young, Pettis County Republican Chairwoman and Chairwoman for the 4th Congressional District and 52nd Legislative District, Crawford was selected from a pool of five candidates Saturday at the Polk County Courthouse.
Young said each candidate had the opportunity to speak and answer questions during an eight-minute period before the committee members voted. Crawford won after only one round of voting, meaning she received at least 18 votes, the required number to be nominated.
“The committee believed she was the most qualified, being in Jefferson City currently and on top of all the legislation that’s going on,” Young said by phone Tuesday afternoon. “She’s well-liked within the senatorial district. … I think they felt like she was the most qualified.”
Two of the candidates were from Sedalia, Dr. Clark Fobian and Pam Carter, as well as Sam Alexander, of Fair Play, and Ryan Ehbrecht, of Bolivar.
Crawford, who was elected in 2010, is in her last term in the Missouri House, representing the 129th District. She serves on the Administration and Accounts Committee, Pensions Committee and is the chairman of the Financial Institutions Committee.
If Crawford is elected in August, her district will then have to start its own process to find a replacement for the remainder of her term.
Democrats have chosen a new face in state government, Bolivar native Al Skalicky. The Democratic Committee met in Lebanon and Skalicky was chosen unanimously after hearing from three candidates, according to Don Fohn, 28th Senatorial District Committee Chairman.
According to his biography on his Facebook candidacy page, Skalicky is a retired agriculture teacher, spending 31 years at Bolivar High School. He lives on a farm in Bolivar and is a licensed realtor. He is a member of several teacher’s associations, including the Missouri State Teacher’s Association where he served several years on the State Legislative Committee.
Now that the candidates have been selected, registered voters in the 28th Senatorial District will choose either Crawford or Skalicky as their new senator Aug. 8. Whoever is elected will serve for two years, the remainder of Parson’s term. The two-year stint as senator will not affect their term limits — they will still be able to serve as senator for two full terms, if they choose to do so and are re-elected.
Voters in the 50th House District will also vote Aug. 8 for the replacement of state Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia, who left the legislature to become Greitens’ chief of staff.
Sandy Crawford
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Sandy Crawford
Al Skalicky
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Al Skalicky
By Nicole Cooke
ncooke@sedaliademocrat.com
Nicole Cooke can be reached at 660-530-0138 or on Twitter @NicoleRCooke.