Rep. Brian Yates, R-Lee's Summit, is resigning from the Missouri House on Tuesday, according to an article from the Associated Press.
Yates announced that he would leaving the Missouri House earlier in an interview published last week with the Independence Examiner. In that article, the term-limited lawmaker said that he wanted to spend more time with his 18-month-old son.
Yates, who is an attorney by trade, served as the chairman of the Insurance Policy Committee. He also served on the House Judiciary Committee.
Yates decision to leave politics throws of a monkey wrench of sorts at conventional wisdom. Yates was perceived to be the prime challenger to House Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt's run for a Missouri Senate currently held by state Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit.
State Rep. Gary Dusenberg, R-Blue Springs, could also run in the race to succeed Bartle. And Yates noted in the Examiner article that he would endorse "a conservative candidate" for the position this week.
Bartle's seat is overwhelmingly Republican and it widely assumed that the winner of the GOP primary will become the next state senator from the district.
Other state House members who have bailed out early include Steve Brown, Ed Wildberger, T.D. El-Amin and Dennis Wood. Wildberger and Wood took appointments from Gov. Jay Nixon to county positions, while Brown and El-Amin stepped down after pleading guilty to felonies.
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