Former state Sen. and Republican congressional candidate Ed Emery has died at 71.
Gov. Mike Parson announced Emery’s death Saturday in a tweet. Emery collapsed following a speech Tuesday evening from what his campaign called a heart problem. He was hospitalized in Columbia. The conservative Republican from Lamar was seeking the 4th Congressional District seat held by GOP Rep. Vicki Hartzler. She is running for the U.S. Senate.
Emery served eight years in the House, starting in 2003, and he won his Senate seat in 2012. He was chairman of the Senate Governmental Reform Committee before being forced by term limits to retire from the Legislature early this year.