State Rep. Jeff Porter, the current Missouri House representative for Montgomery County and much of Warren County, confirmed late last week that he will run for office as state senator of the newly rearranged Senate District 10.

Up until this year, District 10 would have included Warren County. But a recently unveiled district map, reconfigured after the 2020 Census, moves Warren County out of that district and into District 26, which has its main population center in Franklin County.

Porter had wavered between a senate run and staying on as the house representative for this area, with a readjusted boundary that included all of Warren County. Last Thursday, he decided on pursuing the upper house. That will put him into a direct contest with another former area representative, Bryan Spencer, along with candidate Travis Fitzwater of Callaway County.

Three people so far are running for the Senate District 26 office that will now represent Warren County. They are Nate Tate of St. Clair, Ben Bron of Washington, and Bob Jones of Washington, all of whom are registered as Republicans.

For Warren County’s house representative, House District 42, Porter’s newly announced absence from the race has left room for two fresh candidates to emerge. Warrenton residents Jeff Myers and M. Rene Yoesel both registered for the election this week. Both candidates registered as Republicans.

At the county level, no new candidates have joined the ballot in the past three weeks. Most of the county offices have only the incumbent as a candidate, with the exception of a contested race for the recorder of deeds’ office.
Candidate filing closes on March 29.