Funding for the University of Missouri and for the MU Research Reactor (MURR) is a top priority for a former GOP state senator from Columbia who’s running for Missouri’s new third congressional district seat.
Mizzou officials broke ground in October on a $20-million expansion of the MURR, which is down Providence from Faurot Field. Former State Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) served as the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee chair when he served in the Senate.
“They’ve got big issues coming up with the research reactor, which provides radioactive medicine for not only mid-Missouri but for the entire country. And they have plans on that and frankly I hope I can help them with that,” Mr. Schaefer tells “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” listeners.
The MURR is the nation’s top-ranked University research reactor, producing a medical isotope that battles various cancers worldwide. Missouri’s new third district includes Columbia south of Broadway, Ashland, Jefferson City, Boonville, California and Holts Summit.
Senator Schaefer notes the University of Missouri is the largest employer in Missouri’s new third district, with almost 9,000 employees. 2023 statistics from Columbia Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI) show that Mizzou currently has 8,709 employees in Boone County. That doesn’t include another 5,092 employees who work for Columbia-based MU Health Care.
Seven other Republicans and two Democrats, Wentzville’s Bethany Mann and Fulton’s Andrew Daly, have filed for the seat, which is being vacated in December by retiring U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth). Filing continues until March 26.
