Capitol Calling

State Sen. Jane Cunningham will not run for the U.S. Congress.

With U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood, vacating his seat in Congress to run for the U.S. Senate, Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, had expressed interest in running for the U.S. 2^nd District House seat.

But she told a St. Louis radio station on Wednesday morning that she would instead run for re-election for her western St. Louis County state Senate seat.

“This has been a long evaluation, a though evaluation for me, because I can really see myself in both places,” Cunningham said on the Jamie Allman Show on 97.1 FM. “I never go for title. I want to go for purpose where I can make an impact. And what I have chosen after my evaluation is today to announce my intention and commitment to run for a second term in the Missouri Senate.”

The two announced Republican candidates in the 2^nd District race released statements this morning praise Cunningham’s decision to run for re-election.

Ed Martin, a St. Louis City attorney who ran for Congress in 2010 against U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, said in a statement that Cunningham is “a true conservative leader who has walked the walk not just talked the talk.”

“Let me be clear: Jane Cunningham would be a strong member of Congress because she has stayed true to her principles and not simply said whatever she needed to be in office like many candidates today,” Martin said. “I fully expect her to be in public service for many years as a state senator, as governor, or any other office she seeks.”

Ann Wagner, a former chairwoman for the Missouri Republican Party who lives in Ballwin, released a statement calling Cunningham “a great friend and an effective, conservative voice for St. Louis County in the Missouri State Senate.”

“We both live in the 2nd Congressional District, are both conservative women, and both care deeply about our neighbors and the direction of our country, and I will be working hard to ensure Jane Cunningham returns to the State Senate,” Wagner said in a statement.