A veteran mid-Missouri lawmaker who chairs the House Fiscal Review Committee has been elected to the state Senate.

State Rep. Travis Fitzwater (R-Holts Summit) earned 78 percent of the vote on Tuesday, beating Libertarian Catherine Dreher by about 30,000 votes. No Democrat filed in the heavily-Republican district. Fitzwater’s campaign focused on similar issues raised by U.S. Sen.-Elect Eric Schmitt.

“I think they want us to protect the police, take care of kids, grow our economy, grow our state,” Fitzwater says.

He will represent a new five-county Senate district that includes Callaway, Montgomery, Pike, Lincoln and St. Charles counties. Fitzwater tells 939 the Eagle he has three priorities in the Senate.

“We’ve got to protect kids, we got to fight for our freedoms and we’ve got to grow our economy. And I think those are the three tenants we’ll live by as a state senator,” says Fitzwater.

Fitzwater also wants to focus on Missouri’s 14,000 foster children, saying they need loving homes. He’ll replace term-limited State Sen. Jeanie Riddle (R-Mokane).

Missouri’s 2023 session will begin in early January in Jefferson City.