Close battle expected in District 12 Senate primary

Jul. 14—Three men with extensive legislative experience are looking to capitalize on an open seat as the Republican candidate for District 12 in the Missouri Senate.

The seat is up for grabs after Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, reached his term limit after serving nearly two decades in the legislature.

The district is the largest in the state, serving parts of 19 counties in Northwest Missouri. The three candidates are all from different parts of the district as State Rep. J Eggleston is from Maysville, former State Rep. Delus Johnson is from Country Club, Missouri and State Rep. Rusty Black is from Chillicothe.

Johnson served two terms as a representative in Jefferson City, finishing in 2018. He is a former captain with the St. Joseph Fire Department and said people should check his name at the ballot box because of his conservative voting record.

"I will certainly vote conservatively, The only bills that I would basically stop would be something that would impede gun ownership to a law-abiding citizen or perhaps destroy life ... I would filibuster those bills," Johnson said. "I'm endorsed by Missouri Right to Life because of my pro-life beliefs."

Johnson also notes he was able to serve leadership roles throughout his time in the House and would try to do the same in the Senate to give a voice to Northwest Missouri.

Black is a former agriculture teacher and said that he puts strong importance on farming. He said he wants to try to work alongside the appropriations committee to ensure funding for Northwest Missouri for infrastructure, and said his background in working on the budget in the House will help him do that.

"I expect that I'm going to try to be able to communicate with everyone," Black said. "There are 58 ag programs inside this district ... as a former ag teacher and with the ag teacher organization, there was a difference between what people in Rock Port wanted compared to what people in Chillicothe wanted."

Black said he knows there are factions within the Republican Party causing certain bills not to get passed, but he said he does not plan to identify himself with any one group.

Eggleston is the former chairman of the rules committee, among other leadership roles in the House, and he is looking to continue to provide tax relief and fight for rural broadband among other issues to support Northwest Missouri.

"I have been given the responsibility of chairing or vice chairing five different committees," Eggleston said. "I've carried lots of pieces of legislation, from improving our gravel roads to sticking up for law enforcement, improving the tax code and, of course, organ donation-related legislation, which is a very personal thing to me."

The primary election is Aug. 2. The winner will face Michael Baumli, a Democrat, in the November general election.

Clayton Anderson can be reached at clayton.anderson@newspressnow.com. Follow him on twitter: @NPNowAnderson.