Pat Rowe Kerr said Friday she's running for the 60th District's House of Representatives seat in next year's election.
State Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, currently holds the seat, but term limits prevent him from seeking another two-year term.
Kerr is a former ombudsman for the Missouri Veterans Commission and has continued to work on veterans' issues since leaving the commission in 2009.
Before her commission position, Kerr served as the official court reporter for circuit judges James McHenry and Thomas J. Brown III.
She and her husband, the Rev. John Kerr, have owned and operated three businesses over the years.
In her news release, Kerr said she "knows what it means to balance a budget and have employees depend on her for a paycheck to support their families."
She added, "I feel a strong commitment to ensure (that) state employees who are woefully underpaid receive the family supporting salaries they deserve."
Kerr's been working on "legislation that improves the lives of Missourians" since the early 1980s.
Retired Col. Jack Jackson, a former state representative, also said in the news release: "Kerr's efforts were instrumental in the creation of the Missouri Military Family Relief Fund, which has raised and distributed thousands of dollars to military men, women, veterans and their families facing financial difficulties."
She serves as volunteer executive director of a nonprofit organization and also serves on several civic boards.
Gayla McKinnie, a former state Republican elections director, is her campaign treasurer.
A Cole County jury last year awarded Kerr $2.85 million in damages and legal fees in her lawsuit against the commission and Director Larry Kay. Kerr, a former MVC employee, was dismissed in November 2009 and sued the state agency in July 2011, claiming discrimination and harassment over her dismissal.
The case currently is being considered by the state appeals court's Kansas City district.