Rep. Jeff Shawan will seek state senate seat in 2020

State Rep. Jeff Shawan announced during an event Tuesday he will seek a state senator position in 2020.

The Poplar Bluff Republican will complete his first two-year term as the District 153 representative at the same time that Sen. Doug Libla’s current term ends.

Libla is prevented by term limits from running again for the District 25 position.

“It was a difficult decision, however I was raised to never back away from what needs to be done,” Shawan said in an interview earlier this week. “During my first session in the House, I saw that there was oh so much more to be done.

“After long consultation with colleagues and family, I decided just in the last 10 days to definitely go forward with my state Senate bid.”

Shawan is the second area Republican to announce a bid for the seat. Poplar Bluff businessman Eddy Justice, 46, said in March he would also seek the seat when filing officially opens in February 2020.

A primary election will be held in August 2020 for the seat that represents Stoddard, Butler, Carter, Mississippi, New Madrid, Dunklin, Pemiscot and Shannon counties.

Shawan said he feels an urgency because there are matters happening at the state level that could have a long range impact on life in Southeast Missouri.

“There are forces in fringe groups that are attacking our way of life from every direction, private property rights are being attacked through poor government use of eminent domain,” he said. “Agriculture is being attacked from extreme environmentalists and believe it or not, militant vegans.

“There are forces that would eliminate the way of life as we know it in rural Missouri, to the detriment of the whole nation.”

Shawan is also concerned about the loss of population in Southeast Missouri with the closing of small factories.

“I fought for and will continue to fight, hopefully at the Senate level, for rural work initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and investment in our region,” he said.

Shawan, 63, is a local entrepreneur and former Butler County emergency management agency director.

His family first moved to the area when his great-grandparents settled in Stoddard County at the turn of the century, according to a press release.

He and his wife have deep ties to communities throughout the district, Shawan said, promising to be a strong voice for rural, conservative values.

As state representative, he sponsored a pro-life bill that national media deemed one of the most restrictive in the country, Shawan said.

“I am 100% pro-life and ran on a pro-life platform. There is nothing more important than ensuring the right to life is protected and I was proud to co-sponsor the most pro-life bill in the country,” said Shawan, who was endorsed by Missouri Right to Life in his state representative campaign.

Shawan also filed a resolution in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the work to secure the border and co-sponsored the “Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights,” to provide greater legal protections for men and women in law enforcement.

Dustin Mayer of Dexter will serve as Shawan’s campaign treasurer. Shawan said his campaign activities, after the House resumes work in January, will be restricted to weekends and when the session ends in May.

Shawan and his wife, Christy Montgomery Shawan, live in Poplar Bluff on Shawan’s old family farm. They have three children.