Four Republican candidates have announced their intentions to run for the District 18 Missouri State Senate seat. Brian Munzlinger currently holds the seat but will be unable to run again because of term limits which let a person serve no more than two terms as a state senator. Munzlinger was elected without opposition the last time the seat was up for election in 2014, according to Ballotpedia.
District 18 consists of 14 counties, which includes Adair County. The four candidates include State Representatives Nate Walker and Craig Redmon from Kirksville, Missouri, State Representative Lindell Shumake from Hannibal, Missouri, and businesswoman Cindy O’Laughlin from Shelbina, Missouri.
Walker was the last candidate to announce his intention to run. Despite his late announcement, according to a poll by the Remington Research Group, Walker has the most support of the four candidates among voters at 20 percent.
Shumake followed close behind Walker with 18 percent, Redmon received 13 percent and O’Laughlin received 6 percent. At the time of the poll, 43 percent of voters remained undecided.
This year’s primary election will be Aug. 7