EMERSON TO SEEK RE-ELECTION TO HOUSE

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson said Monday she will seek a fourth term in Congress in 2002.

"I am going to be running again," Emerson said. "I love my job and I want to ask the voters to return me" to Congress.

The Cape Girardeau Republican's announced re-election bid, which had been expected, ends speculation that Emerson would challenge U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., next year. In recent months, Emerson had said she was leaning against a Senate run.

In a Monday interview, Emerson said there were "a lot of reasons" for not challenging Carnahan, chief among them being unfinished business in the U.S House of Representatives.

"I have too many things that are outstanding that I started as a member of Congress representing our district, so I want to try to finish those," Emerson said.

She also said she has found a "perfect balance" between her family life and the responsibilities of her job, a balance that a statewide campaign could upset.

With new congressional boundaries to be in place next year, Emerson's 8th District will stretch from Southeast Missouri to the Ozarks with the addition of Douglas and Ozark counties plus approximately three-fourths of Taney County on its western side. Though Republicans dominate those counties, Emerson said she will work hard to build a rapport with her new would-be constituents.

"They're not familiar with me, but they are very similar to the district that we have," Emerson said. "I think that the issues and the concerns of the folks there will be very similar."

Emerson faced no serious opposition in claiming her third term last November. Her Democratic challenger spent no money and campaigned little. Emerson said she hadn't heard floated any names of possible opponents for next year, but is preparing all the same.

"I'm raising money like I plan to have a full-fledged campaign," Emerson said. "You always have to be ready for the toughest campaign. I don't take anything for granted."

Hulshof tells plans

Another Republican member of Congress from Missouri also said Monday that he won't run for the Senate next year. U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Columbia, Mo., said he will seek re-election in the 9th District, which includes northeast Missouri and part of central Missouri.

"While I would consider it an honor to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate, my wife, Renee, and I have decided now is not the right time for my career and our family to run for statewide office," Hulshof said in a news release.

Hulshof, a former Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecuting attorney, wouldn't rule out future statewide campaigns, perhaps including a bid for governor in 2004.

The decisions by Hulshof and Emerson leave former U.S. Rep. Jim Talent of St. Louis County as the best-known possible GOP challenger to Carnahan.

"I consider Jim Talent a very strong Senate candidate and many in the Republican Party consider him the strongest Senate candidate for 2002," said John Hancock, executive director of the state GOP.

Hancock said Talent had the greatest statewide name recognition among possible Republican candidates after his 2000 gubernatorial run, which Talent lost by about 21,000 votes to Democrat Bob Holden.

Talent is vacationing with his family in Hawaii and couldn't be reached Monday. But spokesman Rich Chrismer said Monday that Talent had made no decision about running for Senate.

Carnahan raising money

Carnahan was appointed senator after her late husband, Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash three weeks before Election Day. Mel Carnahan went on to defeat Republican Sen. John Ashcroft, becoming the first deceased person to win a Senate seat. The 2002 election will be for the remaining four years left on the six-year term won by Mel Carnahan.

Jim Jordan, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Jean Carnahan will be a formidable candidate.

Ken Warren, a political science professor at Saint Louis University, said Talent as a Senate candidate would confront the same mistrust of urban politicians, "the city slicker problem," that he encountered in his gubernatorial race.

In contrast, Warren said Carnahan "inherits a unique form of martyr status from her late husband. While I don't think the Republicans have anyone much better than Talent in terms of name recognition, he cannot beat the Carnahan name statewide."

Carnahan is raising campaign money and is widely expected to seek the full term won by her late husband. But she said Monday morning in an interview with CBS that she is too busy serving as senator to worry about politics.

"Right now I'm focused on what I'm doing there, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to do the job that people sent me there do," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

AT A GLANCE

Name: Jo Ann Emerson.

Age: 50. Born Sept. 16, 1950.

Hometown: Cape Girardeau.

Education: Bachelors in political science, Ohio Wesleyan University.

Family: Widow of the late U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Mo.; she has two daughters and two stepdaughters. Married in 2000 to attorney Ron Gladney.

Political: Elected as an independent in 1996 to fill her late husband's term; elected to Congress as a Republican, 1996-2000.