Neither of the state’s leading Democratic contenders have shown interest in throwing their hat in the ring against U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt three years out from 2016.
— Despite Missouri Democratic Party Executive Director Joe Duffy floating his name for U.S. Senate in 2016, a source close to State Treasurer Clint Zweifel said no decision has been made about Zweifel’s political future as he moves through his final term in office.
“Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, who will be term-limited in 2016, will have the ‘right of first refusal’ in challenging Blunt that year, a Democratic operative said,” the Washington paper Roll Call reported on Tuesday. “Duffy countered that the likely Democratic nominee against Blunt will be Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweifel.”
Earlier this year, Zweifel’s name had been floated as a possible Democratic candidate for governor in 2016. But Zweifel reached an agreement with Attorney General Chris Koster to avoid a primary in the race and announced he would no longer seek that seat.
By 2016, Zweifel will have daughters entering high school, and – as a big fan of their athletic events – he may have a perfect out from politics, if he wanted to.
No decision will be made until after 2014 about a Senate race or any other race, the Zweifel source said, as Zweifel and Koster continue to focus on their efforts to take back seats in the General Assembly for Democrats.
Nixon told the Washington Post last month he was not interested in a U.S. Senate run in 2016. “It’s not a place that I would want to be,” he told the paper, despite his two previous runs.