Rolla man to challenge Emerson in 2010

By PAULA BARR
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Published: Friday, September 11, 2009
Updated: Friday, September 11, 2009 10:36 AM CDT

A Rolla man on Wednesday announced that he is challenging U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson for her 8th District seat in Congress.

Democrat Tommy Sowers, 33, announced his candidacy in the 2010 race for Emerson’s seat. A spokesman for Emerson on Thursday said it was too soon for Emerson to make an announcement about the election, which is more than a year away.

Sowers said he is running in response to the frustration and anger people have as a result of the economy. His main issue is economic opportunity for people who want to live and work in the district.

“In the last 12 years, we’ve had fewer jobs, fewer businesses, fewer farms,” said Sowers, who teaches political science at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. “Something’s got to change. We can’t keep sending the same folks back to Congress year after year and expect different results.”

A native of Rolla, Sowers graduated from Rolla High School and attended Duke University on an Army ROTC scholarship. He served 11 years in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Sowers graduated from airborne, air assault; ranger and Belgian commando schools. He led a combat engineering platoon in Kosovo and represented the 1st Infantry Division in the Best Ranger Competition.

He completed graduate studies at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar for Missouri District 6080 and attended the Special Forces Qualification Course, where he graduated at the top of his class. In the 10th Special Forces Group, Sowers led a team of Green Berets.

He was deployed twice to Iraq, where he conducted a wide range of counterinsurgency operations and was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and two Bronze Stars.

Before teaching at Rolla, he spent time as an assistant professor at West Point’s U.S. Military Academy.

 

Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.

 

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