Tommy Sowers

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson is telling DC donors about the threat from Democratic challenger Tommy Sowers in invitations for an upcoming event at a downtown DC steakhouse. 

Tommy Sowers – my Democratic opponent – spent 11 years in the U.S. Army, including an assignment as a Special Forces officer in Iraq. He returned to the states and taught at the U.S. Military Academy before recently retiring from the Army. I honor his service to our country.

He appears to be an aggressive campaigner and fundraiser. I am ready for the challenge. Let the superior candidate with the better agenda win.

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Via Politico, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified Missouri's 8th District as one of their "emerging" targets for 2010.  The DCCC:

"These strong candidates are getting the attention of folks back home because of their willingness to be independent voices for their districts and prevent a return to the same failed Bush policies that drove America into an economic ditch," said Jon Vogel of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "As these strong candidates continue building excitement for their campaigns to create jobs and help middle class families back home, the DCCC will help them become even more competitive in November."

The full list is here.

The Wall Street Journal posted a story tonight about a recent luxurious trip to Scotland for Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and 11 of her colleagues to attend a NATO Parliamentary Assembly conference.  Her trip is highlighted as an example of the growing taxpayer-financed travel costs for Members of Congress and their staffs.

The expenses racked up by U.S. lawmakers traveling here for a conference last month included one for the "control room."

The Central West End home of David and Becky Nelson overflowed with enthusiastic contributors and well wishers last night for 8th congressional district hopeful Tommy Sowers of Rolla. Among the guests were St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee Chairman Brian Wahby; Chair of the Board of Alderman Lewis Reed, former Clayton Mayor and wife Ben and Susan Uchitelle and former U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan.

Sowers, 33, is an 11-year veteran, having served in Kosovo and twice in Iraq as an Army Ranger and Green Beret. Most recently he taught at West Point before returning to his home in Rolla to teach Political Science at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Sowers is putting together a campaign that resembles a well planned military engagement.

Watch out Jo Ann Emerson!     

CNN Commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala has some very nice words for 8th Congressional District candidate Tommy Sowers today in The Huffington Post:

I must say I tried to talk him out of it [running for Congress]. The district, I said, is too Republican, and the election cycle too challenging. Tommy would have none of it. This is his home, he said, and this is his duty.

While the district is undeniably Republican-leaning, Sowers is at home there in a way the incumbent, Jo Ann Emerson, is perhaps not. Emerson's husband, Bill, represented the area until his death in 1996, and Jo Ann Emerson succeeded him. She has won by overwhelming margins ever since. But her background is more K Street than Cape Girardeau. A former Washington lobbyist, Emerson has over the years been a darling of Washington PACs. In fact, 56.9% of the money she has raised in her career has been from PACs. She risks being seen as of Washington special interests, by Washington special interests and for Washington special interests.

Here's a surprise for you: new Democratic candidate Tommy Sowers significantly outraised incumbent Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in the third quarter, and now has more cash on hand than Emerson.

Video of Sowers' first stump speech, filmed Saturday in Poplar Bluff: 

More at SowersForCongress.com.

Tommy Sowers today announced his intentions to challenge Congresswoman Jo An Emerson in 2010. Sowers, born and raised in Rolla, is running for Congress after an eleven year career in the Army.   He is currently teaches in the History and Political Science Department at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

From Sowers' bio:

After going to Duke on an Army ROTC scholarship, Tommy began his 11 year career in the U.S. Army, commissioned in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He graduated Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger and Belgian Commando Schools. Tommy led a combat engineering platoon in Kosovo and represented the 1st Infantry Division in the Best Ranger Competition.

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