2012 Election: Pols React to Cunningham Spurning Congressional Run

Two announced Republican candidates in the Second District race released statements this morning praising State Sen. Jane Cunningham, who announced she will not run for Congress next year.

Ed Martin, a St. Louis City attorney who ran for Congress in 2010 against U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, said in a statement that Cunningham is “a true conservative leader who has walked the walk not just talked the talk.”

“Let me be clear: Jane Cunningham would be a strong member of Congress because she has stayed true to her principles and not simply said whatever she needed to be in office like many candidates today,” Martin said. “I fully expect her to be in public service for many years as a state senator, as governor, or any other office she seeks."

Ann Wagner, a former chairwoman for the Missouri Republican Party who lives in Ballwin, released a statement calling Cunningham “a great friend and an effective, conservative voice for St. Louis County in the Missouri State Senate.”

“We both live in the 2nd Congressional District, are both conservative women, and both care deeply about our neighbors and the direction of our country, and I will be working hard to ensure Jane Cunningham returns to the state senate," Wagner said in a statement.

Cunningham said she may endorse somebody in the Republican primary, although she added she is not ready to make that decision yet.

“It’s certainly not out of the question,” Cunningham said.

She also said she may be open to running for a leadership position in the Missouri Senate if she wins re-election.

"In politics, you never know what's going to happen and what doors may open," Cunningham said. "I think with the years I've spent in the legislature—and that's been 11 now with the possibility to go to 16 if I win this Senate race in 2012—I guess what I've learned is watch for those open doors and be ready to step through them where you can make a change for the best."

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