JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 State Sen. Bill Eigel is staying in the spotlight, fueling talk that the hard-right flamethrower could launch another bid for office after his loss last month in the primary for governor.
Eigel was scheduled to host an anti-Amendment 3 rally at 7 p.m. Friday at the Soda Museum in St. Charles. The proposed constitutional amendment, if passed by a majority of Missouri voters on Nov. 5, would overturn the state鈥檚 abortion ban.
The campaign-style event was expected to keep Eigel in the public eye after he beat expectations in last month鈥檚 gubernatorial primary when he lost to Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe.
Eigel, in an interview Friday, wasn鈥檛 closing the door on a future run for office.
鈥淔rom a political perspective, it鈥檚 way too soon to make any of those kind of decisions at this point,鈥 Eigel said. 鈥淭here may or may not be opportunities in the future, but it鈥檚 unlikely that I would make a decision on that any time in the next 10 to 12 months.鈥
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Eigel said 鈥渢here is no position in particular鈥 he has seriously considered. He also said he is looking at opportunities in the private sector.
Kehoe won the Aug. 6 GOP primary with 39% statewide, while Eigel garnered 33% of the vote as Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft sank, taking only 23% of the vote.
During the campaign, Eigel ran to the right and vowed an aggressive push to deport people in the state illegally. A Democrat for governor called one of Eigel鈥檚 ads 鈥渞acist bigotry.鈥
He also made populist appeals to eliminate the personal property tax and against legislation to protect Bayer from Roundup lawsuits.
Even though he lost, Eigel still gained name recognition and attracted a wide following to overtake Ashcroft in the primary.
One theory is that Eigel could eventually run for the 2nd Congressional District, covering parts of St. 亚洲无码 County, St. Charles County, Warren County and all of Franklin County.
Eigel, of Weldon Spring, last month comfortably won St. Charles, Franklin and Warren counties despite losing the statewide vote.
One lobbyist recently told the Missouri Scout political newsletter to 鈥渆xpect him (Eigel) to be the next CD2 congressman.鈥
It鈥檚 a path one of his predecessors, Sen. Bob Onder, is attempting to take.
Onder, also from St. Charles County, left the state Senate and launched a campaign for the open 3rd Congressional District and won the Republican primary on Aug. 6. He faces Democrat Bethany Mann in November.
But the 2nd District鈥檚 current U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Chesterfield, has held the district since 2013 and hasn鈥檛 signaled that she plans to retire.
Wagner soundly defeated a GOP primary competition this year is seeking a seventh term this Nov. 5 against Democrat Ray Hartmann.
Zeke Spieker, former campaign spokesperson for Eigel, insisted the state senator鈥檚 rally Friday is only for fighting against Amendment 3.
鈥淗e is not currently running for anything,鈥 Spieker said. 鈥淎s a community leader and someone who is looked up to by the grassroots, Senator Eigel is hosting this rally to expose the extremeness of Amendment 3 and spur his supporters on to action to defeat this amendment.鈥