After his unsuccessful run against Todd Akin in the Second Congressional, Bill Haas announced at the last meeting of West County Dems that he and some other concerned citizens had met and talked about the need for campaigning for 2010 races to start next spring.

It couldn’t hurt.

Deb Lavender wasn’t part of that conversation, but I got an e-mail from her this week saying that she is looking into having another go at Rick Stream in HD 94 in Kirkwood.

Deb got almost 46 percent of the vote there on November 4th, so taking another run at him seems reasonable. It’s true that with one short exception, that seat has been in Republican hands for fifty years, but the exception was that Jane Bogetto captured that seat in a 2005 special election–only to lose it in 2006, as the victim of (if you can believe such a thing) Republican smears.

So it’s possible to do it. Jim Trout came achingly close to winning Gibbons’ senate seat, which covers Kirkwood and Webster. Next door in Webster Groves, Jeanne Kirkton got 51.4 percent of the vote.

It’s true that Kirkton had some advantages Deb didn’t. For one, Jeanne had run for the state senate against Gibbons in ’04 and had that name recognition going for her. Also contributing to her name recognition was that Jeanne’s been on the Webster City Council. Bogetto had a similar advantage from having served on the Kirkwood School Board. The final advantage Jeanne had, which Deb didn’t this year and won’t have if she runs in two years, is that the Webster rep was termed out. Deb will have to face an incumbent.

On the plus side for Deb is that she ran an impressive race for someone who has never tried it before. She can look back at the past year and a half of effort, take pride in it, maybe wince at a few mistakes and learn from them.

I say it’s worth another try–and kudos to Deb for picking herself back up so quickly. If she decides to do it–are you listening, Bill?–she can start next spring.

photo of Deb with state party chairman John Temporiti, courtesy of Deb’s website