Jeff Porter is enjoying a long political career that included 15 years as Montgomery City mayor and four years as state representative of House District 42.

Now, he’s hoping to add state senator to the list.

Porter announced on March 17 that he plans to run as a candidate for Missouri Senate District 10, which serves Callaway, Montgomery, Lincoln, Pike and part of St. Charles County.

“I want to make sure that there is someone there who could understand and walk the walk for a lot of people like I have,” Porter said. “I worked in Montgomery City for 31 years. I’ve been in local government for almost 16 years when I was mayor. I have an ag background from a little town of Shelbina, Missouri, where I was raised on a farm up there. I feel like I have a wide variety that actually represents our area pretty well. People get the choice and they get the pick. Hopefully, I get it. If I don’t, then I feel that I tried the best that I can.”

Porter is in a group of Republican candidates that includes Joshua Price of Mexico, Bryan Spencer of Wentzville and Travis Fitzwater of Fulton. All of them are looking to replace Jeanie Riddle, who is serving her final year as state senator for District 10 because of term limits.

“Sen. Riddle has done a tremendous job in the eight years she has been our senator,” Porter said. “I just wanted to make sure that we have hard values in place. I feel like I could fit that mold with me being an older gentleman. With a lot of life experiences, I could bring a lot to the table and I would meet the wide variety of backgrounds that we have in our district.”

Porter has lived in Missouri all of his life. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and agronomy in 1984. Porter became a State Farm Insurance agent in Montgomery City in 1991 and a real estate agent in 2003.

Since 2018, Porter has been serving as state representative for District 42, which comprises Montgomery County and parts of Warren and St. Charles County. He was named the House Transportation Committee chair in December after previously serving as vice-chairman. The House Committee on Transportation is responsible for bills relating to the Department of Transportation and all means of transportation, including roads, highways, bridges, ferries, airports and railroads.

Porter said since he’s getting closer to 60 years old, he felt it was time to run for senator.

“It’s one of those deals which I want to make sure that if I do something like this, I want to make sure how much gas I have in the tank,” Porter said. “I have a lot right now. As you get older, you have to stop and think about that. I feel like me being a guy who is going to turn 60 in June, now is a good time to run for it.”