Smith says he has 'plenty of time' to decide on Senate run

Will he or won't he?

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri's 8th District said Friday he's in no hurry to say whether he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2022.

Speaking to the Southeast Missourian Friday morning at a Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce gathering, the Republican congressman from Salem, Missouri, said he has months to consider his options.

"I have no timeline," he said when asked his thoughts about campaigning for the Senate seat now held by Sen. Roy Blunt who has chosen not to seek reelection next year.

"Filing is not for nine months so there's plenty of time," he said.

Three other Republicans have already declared their candidacies for Blunt's office -- Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and St. Louis personal injury attorney Mark McCloskey, who gained national notoriety last year when he and his wife brandished weapons when protesters entered their gated neighborhood.

A fourth GOP candidate, U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who represents the state's 4th Congressional District in west central Missouri, is expected to announce her candidacy next week, Smith said.

"Who's in the field is not going to decide what I do," he said. "It's what I think is best for Missouri, and right now my focus is the job I was elected to do."

Smith met with former President Donald Trump in New York on May 24, and in April the congressman held a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Smith has not publicly commented about what he and Trump discussed during their meeting in May, other than to tweet he and the former president had a "great visit" and that they "discussed what's needed to protect Missourians and our great state. The President loves the people of Missouri!"

Bipartisan opportunity

As the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, Smith said he is focused on "wasteful spending" and other fiscal matters, such as President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan which, Smith said, is an opportunity for bipartisan agreement in Congress.

"Republicans and Democrats all believe we need to improve our infrastructure because our roads and bridges are crumbling," he said.

"We're going back and forth with the negotiations right now with the White House," Smith continued. "If you look at the proposal that's out there from the White House, the initial one of $2.3 trillion, we could build the current national interstate highway system four complete times in today's dollars."

According to Smith, only about 6% of the president's plan is allocated to roads and bridges and 2% to locks, dams and airports.

"So you're talking about 8% of infrastructure that's really infrastructure," he said. "If you would to throw in broadband, that would be another 5%, so that would make 13%."

Much of the plan, Smith said, includes "things that most people would not consider infrastructure according to Webster's Dictionary."

In addition to Smith, chamber members heard a legislative update from 27th District state Sen. Holly Rehder (R-Scott City), 146th District state Rep. Barry Hovis (R-Whitewater), and 147th state Rep. Wayne Wallingford (R-Cape Girardeau).

The legislators discussed the recent passage of a prescription drug monitoring program sponsored by Rehder, passage of the Wayfair internet sales tax proposal and the first increase in Missouri's gasoline tax since 1996.

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