07/29/2008

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER  / Associated Press

Twelve years later, the four Democrats hoping to succeed Kenny Hulshof in Congress want to party like it's 1996.

That's the last time a Democrat — former Rep. Harold Volkmer — represented the sprawling 9th Congressional District, a 25-county chunk of Missouri that includes Columbia, Hannibal, Kirksville, Hermann, western St. Charles County and part of Lake of the Ozarks.

With Hulshof battling state Treasurer Sarah Steelman in the Aug. 5 Republican primary for governor, his potential successors on the Democratic side see a golden opportunity to boost their party's 37-member advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"It's an open seat," said candidate Ken Jacob, a former state legislator from Columbia. "And (congressional) seats don't open regularly. It's almost impossible to win against an incumbent."

Jacob spent 22 years in the state House and Senate, including a stretch as the top Democrat in a Republican-controlled Senate. Primary opponents Steve Gaw of Holt's Summit (nearly a decade in Jefferson City, including four years as House speaker) and Judy Baker of Columbia (a two-term representative) also hope to make the jump from one capitol to another.

Rounding out the field is Marion County Commissioner Lyndon Bode of Palmyra. The Democrat with the least name recognition districtwide points to Harry Truman as inspiration. Truman was a Jackson County commissioner before his election as U.S. senator and then president.

Bode proudly summons the legacy of Volkmer, a fellow northeast Missourian and social conservative from Hannibal whose anti-abortion and pro-gun platform led to 20 years in Congress before a 1996 defeat by Hulshof in his second attempt to unseat Volkmer.

"We've got to bring this district back to the Harold Volkmer days," Bode said.

Bode seems particularly aware of a congressional requirement few candidates emphasize on the campaign trail — the importance of keeping the folks back home happy.

Asked at a Columbia candidates' forum to name his most significant legislative accomplishment, Bode described a road extension project outside Hannibal. And he favors a new federal public works program not unlike the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps to boost local economies.

For Baker, a mother of three and wife of a Baptist minister, expanding access to quality health care is the campaign's top issue. Though short on legislative experience compared to Gaw and Jacob, she says her 25-year career as a health care executive in both Atlanta and Missouri can bring sorely needed expertise to Washington.

"There's only a handful of people in the United States Congress who have any idea how the health care system works," she said. "It is one of the most pressing crises of this nation."

Among Baker's ideas is allowing veterans who rely on federally supported medical care at VA hospitals to instead use private doctors. That platform has drawn criticism from Jacob as well as some veterans groups.

Gaw, like Bode, has made an overt appeal to the district's rural voters. On the campaign trail, he describes attending a one-room schoolhouse north of Moberly. Campaign literature shows Gaw, who now lives on a Callaway County farm, riding a horse through a creek. A television ad boasts that "his boots usually have a little mud on them."

But Gaw has also spent the past seven years on the state Public Service Commission, advocating for consumers and against rate increases by Ameren Corp. and other utilities. In the Legislature, Gaw cites his efforts to move past partisan bickering and promote the elimination of a state sales tax on food, among other victories.

"I came in at a time when it was difficult in the Missouri House," he said. "Things were divided. I tried my best to pull things together, and we did that. We had five years of some of the most successful sessions in the Missouri General Assembly. ... We were able to transform this state in many ways."

Whether calling for a more rapid troop withdrawal from Iraq or a continued emphasis on alternative fuels to counter skyrocketing gas prices, the four Democrats have espoused similar views on many issues. That means the choice for voters could come down to questions of leadership or personality.

The Democratic campaign has also been more civil than the Republican contest, where opponents Bob Onder and Blaine Luetkemeyer recently began airing dueling television attack ads.

Jacob has called the 2008 election a pivotal one, and chastised his fellow Democrats in Washington for squandering the opportunity to parlay their leadership into meaningful reform.

With Missouri likely facing the loss of one of its nine congressional seats when districts are redrawn after the 2010 Census, he says time is short for the next 9th District representative. Four years from now, that incumbent (or the winner of the 2010 election) could be facing a run against a more senior member of Congress from elsewhere in the state.

The winner of next week's Democratic election will face one of five Republicans engaged in their own primary: Onder, a state representative from St. Charles; Luetkemeyer, a former legislator and state tourism director from St. Elizabeth; state Rep. Danielle "Danie" Moore, of Fulton; former University of Missouri football star Brock Olivo, of Hermann; and Dan Bishir, of St. Peters.