Fourth GOP candidate enters race in 157th

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Tom Sachse of Friedheim, Mo., has joined an increasingly crowded field of hopefuls running for the 157th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Sachse, 33, is the manager of Shawneetown Feed and Seed store in Friedheim and president of the Cape Girardeau County Farm Bureau board of directors. He said he is running as a "common man" who shares the values of his community and understands the everyday concerns of its residents.

"I feel like I could be a person who if you have a problem, big or small, you could come talk to," said Sachse, who is making his first bid for elected office.

Others from Jackson

Sachse becomes the fourth Republican seeking to replace term-limited state Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, Mo., The others, all from Jackson, are Jackson school board president Gerald Adams, Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecuting attorney Scott Lipke and Donna Lichtenegger, a dental hygienist.

With so many Republicans running, Sachse said it is probable that the winner of the August GOP primary will secure only a plurality of votes, not a majority.

"A very small percentage of people are going to pick the Republican nominee," Sachse said. "It will be very important to get out and talk to as many people as you can."

No Democrats have entered the race.

Sachse formed a campaign committee in September but didn't specify what district he intended to run in pending the release of new district boundaries. The new 157th District includes Jackson plus northern Cape Girardeau County and most of Perry County, which is currently represented by state Rep. Pat Naeger, R-Perryville, Mo.

While disappointed that redistricting divides Cape Girardeau County among four state representatives instead of the current two, he said the new district works to his advantage.

"I hate to see the county get butchered up, but on a personal level I'm pleased with the way the district was drawn because all of a sudden I'm in the center of the district," Sachse said.

With his hometown near the Perry County line and strong personal ties to that county, the new boundaries give him the opportunity to tap a potential base of support he wouldn't have had under the current district lines, Sachse said.

A lifelong Cape Girardeau County resident, Sachse graduated from Oak Ridge, Mo., High School in 1987. He earned a bachelor of science degree in agribusiness from Southeast Missouri State University in 1991.

Sachse is a member of the SEMO District Fair Association, the Cape Girardeau County Young Farmers and the Cape Girardeau County Extension Council. He and his wife, Cheryl, attend Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, Mo.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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