Add Democrat Michela Skelton's name to the list of Mid-Missourians seeking to replace Caleb Jones in the state House of Representatives.
Jones, R-Columbia, a California, Missouri, native, won re-election to the 50th House District seat with no opposition last November, but he resigned last week after being appointed as Gov. Eric Greitens' deputy chief of staff.
Outgoing Gov. Jay Nixon set a special election for Aug. 8 to fill the seat.
Skelton, 31, an attorney, said on her Facebook page she wants to join the House "because I believe everyone should have a chance to get ahead. However, right now, millionaires, billionaires and big business are buying our government.
"I want to be the voice for everyone who is working hard and facing unending obstacles and those altogether left behind by our corrupted system."
In a statement posted on her campaign website, michelaskelton.com, she said, "The hard-working people of Mid-Missouri are tired of government that works only for the few, for the wealthy and for the well-connected. I'm running for state representative to stand up for working men and women, for seniors, for people with disabilities, for students, for teachers and for everyone in the 50th District who isn't being heard in Jefferson City."
The 50th District runs from California in Moniteau County to southeastern Columbia in Boone County, including both Hartsburg and Ashland.
It also includes portions of northwestern Cole County - starting just northwest of Jefferson City's limits - and southeastern Cooper County.
Skelton said on her Facebook page that she; her husband, Chris Birk; and their two young children, Theo and Ella, live in unincorporated Boone County.
In her Facebook post, Skelton notes she's a "distant cousin" of the late U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Lexington, and met with him while she was earning her master's degree in public administration and policy analysis from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, just east of St. Louis - where she also earned a bachelor's degree in political science.
She earned her law degree from Washington University in St. Louis and later worked in the Missouri Senate's non-partisan research office, helping draft the bills debated by state senators to become state law.
In her campaign release, Skelton said she would focus on a host of critical issues, including workers' rights, strengthening our families, quality education and investing in rural communities.
She launched her campaign Wednesday in Ashland.
Skelton also has posted a list of nearly two dozen current and former elected officials, business leaders and community figures who already have endorsed her, including current Reps. Kip Kendrick and Martha Stevens, former Rep. Judy Baker and former state Sen. Chuck Graham.