State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman won’t run for another term.
The Arnold Republican made the announcement on "This Week in Missouri Politics" on Tuesday. Among other reasons, Coleman noted that a number of other lawmakers, such as former state Sen. Elaine Gannon of Jefferson County, only decided to serve one four-year term.
“I think eight years is a good amount of time to dedicate to public service at this point in our life, and I’m happy to kind of be moving on to other things,” Coleman told host Scott Faughn.
Coleman added that she plans to finish out her term, which expires in early 2027.
Coleman is a lawyer who was first elected to a Missouri House seat in 2018. During her time in the House, she was chairman of the Children and Families Committee and often played a major role in crafting child welfare-related legislation — including a program placing children with relatives while their parents get drug rehabilitation services.
In 2019, Coleman helped write a bill that would ultimately ban almost all abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned. She was also a leading opponent against a 2024 ballot measure known as Amendment 3 that protected abortion rights in the state constitution.
Coleman captured a House seat that a Democrat held in 2018. She won election to the Senate in 2022, but lost in a crowded GOP primary for secretary of state last year.
Coleman’s Jefferson County-based Senate seat transformed from a swing seat in the 2010s to solidly Republican in the 2020s.
Potential GOP contenders for the seat include state Reps. David Casteel, R-Arnold, and Ken Waller, R-Herculaneum, as well as former House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, and former state Rep. Jeff Roorda, R-Barnhart.
