Monday, November 10, 2014

Democratic senator announces candidacy for attorney general

(From Sen. Scott Sifton, D-Affton)

State Senator Scott Sifton announced today his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for Missouri Attorney General in 2016. Sifton would be returning to the office where his legal career began.

“I am tremendously grateful for the experience I gained early in my legal career working on special prosecutions and defending against criminal appeals in the Missouri Attorney General’s office,” Sifton said. “I pledge that as Attorney General, I will work to make Missouri safer for every family, consumer, community and business.”

While with the Attorney General’s office, Sifton worked to uphold the sentences imposed on murderers, drug dealers, rapists, child abusers and drunk drivers. He also worked on special prosecutions in cases of public corruption, senior fraud, nursing home patient neglect and methamphetamine manufacturing.

In the Senate, Sifton has championed strong ethics rules for legislators, having refused to accept lobbyist gifts and introduced a bill banning them. He has also pushed legislation to expand the use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations, reform Missouri’s school transfer law, protect consumers and reduce property taxes for seniors. He also advocates for veterans’ benefits as a member of the Missouri Veterans Commission.

About Scott Sifton

Sen. Sifton was raised in Gladstone, Missouri, a suburb in the Kansas City Northland. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan. He is a practicing attorney and partner at the St. Louis law firm of Husch Blackwell. His experience in 15 years of private practice includes civil rights, Hancock Amendment, Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, consumer protection, non-profit management, environmental, false advertising, criminal, occupational disease, licensing, administrative law and shareholder matters, all of which the Office of Attorney General addresses as well. He represented the special deputy receiver in the clean-up of the National Prearranged Services scam, one of the largest consumer fraud schemes in Missouri history.

Sifton’s public service began on the Affton School Board in 2001, where he served until 2010, including two terms as board president. He won election to the Missouri House of Representatives in south St. Louis County in 2010, a year in which Democrats lost 17 seats. In 2012, he defeated incumbent Republican State Senator Jim Lembke in one of the most hotly contested races in recent Missouri history, becoming the first Democrat to defeat a full-term Republican Senator in recent memory.

Sifton lives in Affton and has two children.

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