Walsh plans to run for Jones' vacant House seat

Ashland Republican Sara Walsh said Wednesday she'll be running for the state House seat Caleb Jones is leaving.

Jones, R-Columbia, resigned Wednesday morning, before the 2017 General Assembly began.

He's going to be deputy chief of staff in Gov.-elect Eric Greitens' administration, which takes over the reins of state government at noon Monday.

Walsh, who is a Republican Party state committeewoman, last year announced plans to run for Jones' seat in 2018, when term limits would have prevented him from running again.

"I have a desire to serve the people of Missouri and believe I can best do that by championing issues and causes important to them as their representative in the General Assembly," she said in a news release. "The campaign I had planned for 2018 will begin now.

"I have been meeting with many of the good citizens of Boone, Cole, Cooper and Moniteau counties and eagerly look forward to introducing myself to those I don't yet know."

Walsh said Jones has been "a wonderful representative for our district in Jefferson City. ... I hope to build on his accomplishments when I get to the General Assembly."

Walsh, 37, has lived in Mid-Missouri since childhood.

She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Columbia College and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia's Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs.

Walsh currently works for the Missouri Pharmacy Association.

Her husband, Steve Walsh, is a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville.

Her news release included a list of 49 people who already have endorsed her campaign, including former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer and his successor, Sen. Caleb Rowden, both Columbia Republicans.