St. Louis attorney Ed Martin is dropping his congressional campaign to instead seek the Republican nomination for attorney general.
Martin announced the switch today while attempting to link Democratic incumbent Chris Koster to the policies of President Barack Obama. This is not the first time Martin has changed course for the 2012 election. He originally set out to run for U.S. Senate but switched last year to the Second Congressional District race in suburban St. Louis. Martin also ran for Congress in 2010, narrowly losing to Democrat Russ Carnahan. He served as chief of staff to former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt and has worked for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis and as an attorney for anti-abortion and school-choice groups. Martin is the only announced Republican challenger to Koster.