BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The 151st District Democratic Legislative Committee met Wednesday evening for the second time to officially select a candidate.
The committee, a sub-committee of the Stoddard County Democratic Central Committee, only meets to handle situationS such as the upcoming Aug. 5 special election.
The special election will allow residents to vote to fill the 151st District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives that was vacated by the December 2013 resignation of Dennis Fowler.
The committee met on Thursday, March 6, to select a candidate. They selected Barbara Brown to run as the Democratic candidate.
A few days later, Brown called Democratic Central Committee President Mike Moroni and officially withdrew her candidacy.
Moroni insisted there were no hard feelings, but the party was still left without a candidate to be placed on the August ballot.
In the weeks following, Ryan Wm. Holder filed for the coming primary election--scheduled for the same day.
Holder ran for the 151st seat in 2012, winning the primary election, but falling to Dennis Fowler in the general election.
Holder ran a campaign in staunch opposition to "Right to Work" legislation, noting that the individuals who designed the term wish only to "gut worker's rights." He identified himself as a pro-life gun owner, who formerly served as an Air Force Sergeant.
Following his filing, the committee decided he was the logical choice to be the candidate in the August special election.
Wednesday evening the committee made it official when they gathered at the Stoddard County Justice Center and voted to name him as their candidate.
Holder has no opponent in the Democratic primary, but will face Republican challenger Tila Hubrecht in the special election.