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Party switch dogs candidate in Missouri Senate race
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Edited | RBH Sep 17, 2008 08:17pm |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Sep 13, 2008 08:00pm |
| Description | On the campaign trail in Missouri’s 31st Senate District, Chris Benjamin likes to talk about health care and education.
Voters listen and nod. But then someone is likely to ask the Democratic candidate the question that has dogged his campaign from the beginning: “Uh, didn’t you used to be a Republican?”
Yes, lifelong. Until late last year, when he switched.
The move surprised pretty much everyone. At the time, Benjamin was chief of staff for Republican House Speaker Rod Jetton. The job called for him to advise GOP candidates, including David Pearce of Warrensburg, now his opponent in the Nov. 4 election.
The winner will replace Chris Koster, who switched parties about the same time and now is running as a Democrat for Missouri attorney general. Critics assailed Koster’s defection and accused him of flipping to avoid a tough Republican primary.
Benjamin, a lawyer from Freeman in Cass County, rejects any accusation that labels him a turncoat. He pleads the Ronald Reagan defense. A Democrat before switching parties, Reagan is famous for saying: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.” |
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