Brad Lager

Brad Ronald Lager (born June 20, 1975, in Maryville, Missouri) is a Republican politician from the state of Missouri. He is a former member of the Missouri Senate from the 12th District as well as a former member of the Missouri House of Representatives and former candidate for State Treasurer in 2008. Lager ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Missouri Lieutenant Governor in 2012.^[1]

Personal life and education

Brad Lager is a lifelong resident of northwest Missouri. After graduation from Northeast Nodaway High School (Ravenwood) in 1993,^[2] he attended Northwest Missouri State University. Lager graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in computer management systems in 1997. During his three years between college and running for political office, Lager gained business experience at Northwest Missouri Cellular, where he was the General Manager. Lager resigned from Northwest Missouri Cellular in 2001 while serving on the Maryville City Council due to concerns regarding a conflict of interest with Lager's position on the Council. ^[3] Lager was the owner of the now dissolved LMS Communications and is a co-owner of Lager Car Wash.^[4] Lager currently works as a senior strategic analyst in health e-services for Cerner Corporation, a large healthcare information technology company.^[5] Senator Lager and his wife Stephanie reside near Savannah, Missouri with their son and daughter.^[6]

Political career

Brad Lager's career in politics began in 2001, at age 25, when he was elected to the Maryville City Council, becoming the city's youngest councilmember ever.^[7] Shortly thereafter, in 2002, Lager was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives from the 4th District after defeating Democrat Larry Dougan.^[8] He would run unopposed for reelection in 2004. Brad Lager moved from the House to the Missouri Senate in 2006 after handily defeating Democrat James W. Neely by over 11,000 votes.^[9] Lager ran statewide for Treasurer in 2008 and lost to Democrat Clint Zweifel. Zweifel beat out Lager with over 50-percent of the votes. Lager would run unopposed in 2010 to win reelection to his State Senate seat.

Political controversies

Senator Lager has been accused of favoring a major contributor - Premium Standard Farms - over his own constituents.^[10]

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, as a state senator, Senator Lager received two $100,000.00 donations from two contributors on September 28, 2010 and September 30, 2010.^[11] Additionally, Lager's bid for Lieutenant Governor has been largely funded by two prominent Republican donors, The Humphreys Family (Tamko Building Products). Together and through their respective businesses,Humphreys have donated about $700,000 to Lager's campaign.^[12][13] In 2005, Lager was removed as Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Then Speaker of the House Rod Jetton stripped Lager of his chairmanship for Lager's refusal to work with Republican leadership to craft a consensus budget. Jetton cited "differences in priorities" in his decision to remove Lager.^[14]

Statewide campaigns

In 2008 Senator Lager mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Missouri State Treasurer. After running unopposed in the August Republican primary, Brad Lager lost the November general election to Democratic nominee, State Representative Clint Zweifel.^[15][16] On November 14, 2011 Brad Lager announced his candidacy for Missouri Lieutenant Governor in 2012. He narrowly lost the GOP primary to the incumbent, Peter Kinder. Lager is term-limited by Missouri law from running for his State Senate seat again.^[17]

Election results

References

• Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2005-2006. Jefferson City, MO: Secretary of State.