Cape Girardeau resident Andy Leighton has filed as a Democratic candidate for the Missouri District 147 House seat.

Currently in the seat is Republican state Rep. Kathy Swan, who was first elected to the position in 2012 and won her fourth two-year term in 2018. Swan cannot run for reelection to the seat due to term limits. She and state Rep. Holly Rehder are running for the Distract 27 state Senate seat.

“Family and friends encouraged me to run for office to represent the 147th district, because we need new leaders in our state government to provide direction, coordination, and above all, clear communication,” Leighton said in a Monday news release.

Leighton, who has lived in Cape Girardeau since 1996, said via phone Monday this is his first time running for public office.

He said he’s been contemplating running for a long time, but recent events, such as the governor and General Assembly’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, “have made it just abundantly clear that we need new leadership in Jeff City starting with our own state representative.”

In the release, Leighton said the “main theme of my campaign is healthcare, healthcare, healthcare.”

On the phone, Leighton said he works as a medical biller in the industry specializing in Medicaid insurance billing. He said Missouri is one of 14 states that hasn’t adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. This, he said, has cost the state $5 billion in federal revenue that could have gone to helping Missourians maintain better health.

Leighton attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1986, according to the release. Since 2018, he has been vice chairman for public relations for the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Committee.

Republicans John Voss and Wayne Wallingford both filed to run for the seat Feb. 25, according to the Missouri Secretary of State’s website.