By Sam Youngman

Former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes (D) on Monday made her congressional campaign official, declaring her candidacy to run against Rep. Sam Graves (R) in the Show Me State’s 6th district.

Barnes recently completed her second term as mayor. Although Democrats have not mounted a serious challenge to Graves since his election in 2000, party officials in Washington say Barnes is just the heavyweight to end the congressman’s tenure.

Barnes has visited Washington several times this year, beginning with a trip to see her friend, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) get sworn in following her 2006 defeat of Sen. Jim Talent (R).

Barnes told The Hill that she met with Democratic House leaders and has had several conversations with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which pushed hard for the former mayor to run. Read more…

Related:

CQPolitics.com: “Challenge by Ex-KC Mayor Could Be Stiff Test for Missouri Rep. Graves”

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