Former Boone County clerk plans run for Congress

ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Boone County clerk is eyeing a run for a seat in Congress.

Taylor Burks filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission on July 1 to run for the Fourth Congressional District seat in 2022. Burks is the current director for the Division of Labor Standards for the state of Missouri.

Burks could face a crowded field in the quest to replace U.S. Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler. Hartzler announced she would seek the U.S. Senate seat Roy Blunt plans to leave in 2022, possibly leaving open the congressional seat that spans from Boone County to the Kansas border south of Kansas City. The district also includes mid-Missouri counties such as Audrain, Cooper, Howard, Moniteau, Morgan, Pettis and Randolph. It also contains both Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leonard Wood.

Burks declined to comment on his plan to run until his campaign launch event on July 13.

Burks began his work as Boone County clerk in 2017 when then-Governor Eric Greitens appointed him to the spot. Burks lost in 2018 to Democrat Brianna Lennon, but got a job with the state a month later. Burks is a Navy veteran.

Former state senator Ed Emery of Vernon County announced his plan to run last month. Cass County Associate Commissioner Ryan Johnson announced last month his intent to run, as well. Democrat J.D. Leathers of Cass County also filed paperwork with the FEC to run, the only Democrat to file so far.

State representative Sara Walsh (R-Ashland) has previously expressed interest in the seat. Walsh promised a campaign announcement on Wednesday in Columbia, but did not specify what it might be.

Hartzler has easily won the district five times since she took the spot from Democrat Ike Skelton in 2010.