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Up To Date

Missouri's retiring Sen. Roy Blunt reflects on 26 years in Congress

By Steve Kraske,
Zach Wilson
Published December 19, 2022 at 3:53 PM CST
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Senator Roy Blunt, R-Mo., speaks at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, Friday, April 13, 2012.
Michael Conroy
/
Associated Press
Aside from his work in the Senate, Roy Blunt has served as a congressman, a county official in Greene County, the Missouri Secretary of State and as president of his alma mater, Southwest Baptist University.

Republican Roy Blunt, Missouri's senior senator, will leave office next month after serving in Washington, D.C. since 1997.

Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri announced in March 2021 that, after 26 years on Capitol Hill, he wouldn't run for another term.

Soon after the new year, Republican Eric Schmitt will be sworn into the Senate in Blunt's place.

Blunt told KCUR's Up To Date that it felt like the right moment to retire.

"I just began to feel like, to me about the middle of this term, that there's a logical ending point in everything you do," Blunt said. "And you don't want to miss the right time to bring your work together and be focused on it, and I feel like that's what we've done."

Blunt joined KCUR's Up To Date to look back on his long career in national politics.

Tags
Up To Date PodcastpoliticsGovernmentRoy BluntRepublicansU.S. SenateMissouri
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Steve Kraske
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
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Zach Wilson
As Up To Date’s senior producer, I construct daily conversations that give our listeners context to the issues of our time. I strive to provide a platform that holds those in power accountable, while also spotlighting the voices of Kansas City’s creatives and visionaries that may otherwise go unheard. Email me at zach@kcur.org.
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