Wallingford wants House seat after reaching term limits in Senate

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford and state Rep. Kathy Swan are looking to trade places in the 2020 election.

Wallingford said Wednesday he will run for Swan's District 147 House seat. The House district takes in an area primarily covering the city of Cape Girardeau.

Swan previously announced she will run for Wallingford's Senate seat.

Both Cape Girardeau, Republican lawmakers are term-limited, meaning that next year will be the final year they can serve in their current positions.

Under Missouri's constitution, state senators are limited to two, four-year terms and representatives to four, two-year terms.

Swan will be opposed by state Rep. Holly Rehder of Scott County for the 27th District Senate seat. Like Swan, Rehder, who lives near Scott City, is a term-limited Republican and cannot seek reelection to the House in 2020.

The Senate district encompasses six counties: Cape Girardeau, Scott, Bollinger, Perry, Madison and Wayne counties.

Wallingford was elected in 2010 to a two-year term in the Missouri House.

In 2012, he was elected to the first of two terms in the Senate.

Wallingford said, if elected, he could serve three more two-year terms in the House under the term-limits provision.

"I only served one term (in the House) so I could serve six more years," he said.

Wallingford said constituents and several House lawmakers encouraged him to run for the House seat.

"I have kind of a groundswell of support for me running for the House," he said.

"I prayed about it," he said of his decision to run.

Wallingford said his experience in the Senate could prove valuable as a state representative. "I am very close with the governor and the lieutenant governor," he said.

He said he has a "great relationship" with the senators. "So it will be a lot easier getting things done having served with those senators," he aid.

"I get everything done behind the scenes," he said. "I don't do grandstanding."

A strong advocate of criminal justice reform, Wallingford said he would continue to push that issue.

Lawmakers also need to address transportation funding needs and how to best tax online sales, he said.

Wallingford prides himself on his detailed research on legislative issues.

"When I first went into the House, I said I would read every bill. This was my ninth year in the Legislature, and I read every bill," he said. "I do my own research and I know those bills by heart."

The 72-year-old lawmaker said he physically is up to the challenge of spending long hours at the state capitol during legislative sessions.

"I have more energy I think than anyone in the Legislature," he said.

He said lobbyists seeking to talk to him have trouble keeping up as he walks through the capitol.

"I am climbing up the stairs like you wouldn't believe, and they get to the top of the stairs and they're huffing and puffing. They can't even talk," Wallingford said.

Wallingford, who has a human-resources position as the "chief people officer" for McDonald's of Southeast Missouri, said he likes being a legislator.

"I just enjoy serving my constituents and getting things done for them," he said. "It is very rewarding."

Do you like stories about government and courts? Keep up with the latest news by signing up for our daily morning headline email. Go to semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.