Ed Martin

Martin, who told reporters he was “in a deer stand” when they called recently to ask about his e-mails to special interest groups, some of which were at odds with his boss’s decisions, issued a news release today announcing the formation of “Term Limits for Missouri.” Martin incorporated the entity earlier this year.

The news release says that if state lawmakers won’t enact term limits for all Missouri statewide elected officials who don’t currently have them (lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor and attorney general), his group will seek signatures from voters to place the issue before voters in 2010. From Martin in the release:

“Missourians recognize that too much time in office leads to complacency and, too often, to corruption. Term limits guarantee that new citizens will serve in every elected position of state government at least every eight years. It’s better for democracy to have citizen elected officials not bureaucrats who stay in office for decades.”

Not surprisingly, Martin’s release points out that the man who was the subject of many of his e-mails (”We’ve got to beat the heck out of him!”), Attorney General Jay Nixon, has served longer than the 8 years that his initiative petition drive would seek to be the maximum term in office. Nixon, now the governor-elect, was attorney general for 16 years.

State representatives and state senators in Missouri already have term limits of eight years. Some lawmakers have considered raising those, arguing that the term limits have shifted power to the executive branch and lobbyists. Last year, Rep. Gayle Kingery, a Republican from Poplar Bluff, filed a bill that would change the current limit from 8 years to 16 years.