Republican attorney Ed Martin announced Monday he will run for a United States Senate seat against incumbent Claire McCaskill in 2012. Martin served as Chief of Staff for former Gov. Matt Blunt and narrowly lost his bid for Representative of Missouri’s third Congressional District in 2010.
Martin focused on setting himself apart from McCaskill in his announcement, condemning her support of President Barack Obama and his legislature and referring to her as “ObamaClaire.”
“I believe that the 2012 election will come down to a very simple question: what should the size, scope and cost of the federal government be?” Martin said. “President Barack Obama and Senator Claire McCaskill have answered this simple question – they’ve said that the federal government should be bigger, it should be more powerful, and more costly.”
Several Missouri candidates have discussed a run for Senate including Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., who said he will issue a statement on the subject later this week. Other speculated candidates include Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and Ann Wagner, a St. Louis party activist. Only Former Republican Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Ed Martin have officially announced an official run in the November 2012 elections thus far.
McCaskill was not idle in her first term. Most recently, she sponsored the Wyden-Grassley proposal that required senators to make public their objections to bills, preventing them from anonymously blocking bills and putting an end to anonymous holds.
She also has led subcommittee investigations into U.S. government waste, fraud and abuse in Afghanistan. Martin opposes her support of Obama and views it as a weakness in her bid for reelection.
In his statement, Martin tried to appeal to Missourians whose support of Obama has been waning. His main stances include decreasing the deficit and restricting the power of government.
“Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama grew the size and cost of federal power at our expense,” he said in a statement. “I believe these encroachments on our freedom has choked off the natural dynamism of the American economy – Enough already, let’s reclaim America!”
