PETER KINDER WILL ANNOUNCE BID FOR STATE SENATE

Peter Kinder, associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian newspaper, will announce today his candidacy for the Missouri Senate.

The Republican candidate for the 27th District seat will officially announce his candidacy at a 4:30 p.m. press conference at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau.

Kinder, 37, will seek the seat now held by John Dennis, D-Benton. Dennis is retiring at the end of the year after 16 years as a state senator.

Kinder has long been active in politics. He served as campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, in 1980. Emerson defeated a six-term incumbent Democrat, Bill Burlison, that year, becoming the first Republican elected to Congress from Southeast Missouri in 52 years.

Kinder served as special assistant to Emerson in Washington, D.C., from 1981 to early 1982, handling a variety of legislative and constituent matters.

He managed Emerson's successful re-election campaign in 1982.

From 1983-87, Kinder served as staff attorney and real estate representative for Drury Industries Inc., a diversified motel, construction and real estate development firm based in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis. He traveled widely, representing the company in a variety of financial and legal transactions.

In 1987, he became associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian.

Kinder is currently serving his second, four-year term as a commissioner of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority.

He planned and executed the 1985 election campaign that resulted in voter approval of a quarter-cent sales tax in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties to fund improvements at the port near Scott City.

He has been active in a number of civic groups, including the Area Wide United Way, the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society, and the Cape Girardeau Lions Club.

Kinder graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Southeast Missouri State University. He received his law degree in December 1979 from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.