Springfield-area attorney announces state Senate candidacy

SBJ File

Lori Rook, Ozarks Elder Law LLC managing partner and attorney, intends to run for Missouri State Senate in 2026.

For the second time since 2023, a Springfield-area attorney is running for political office to represent the state of Missouri.

Lori Rook, managing partner of local law firm Ozarks Elder Law LLC, yesterday announced in a news release her plans to seek the Republican nomination for Missouri Senate District 20 in 2026. She will challenge Sen. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, for his seat in the Missouri Capitol. The district comprises Barton, Dade, Webster and a portion of Greene County.

“I am running for state Senate because southwest Missouri deserves actual conservative fighters, not more go-along-to-get-along lobby core lackeys,” Rook said in the announcement. “Unlike my opponent, I won’t be afraid to stick my neck out to protect conservative values. I will be a defender of the people, not the corporations and special interests.”

Rook earned her Juris Doctor from the Oklahoma City University School of Law and has a bachelor’s degree in crime and society from Missouri State University.

Curtis Trent won the seat in 2022 over Brian Gelner.

Aside from Rook, the Missouri Ethics Commission website additionally lists candidate committees for Trent and state Rep. Ann Kelley, R-Lamar.

Ozarks Elder Law has nine locations in addition to its Joplin office, which operates as Joplin Elder Law LLC, Rook said. Additionally, she said she remains managing partner of Ozarks Business Law LLC, which was launched in 2019 to serve small and family-owned businesses.

Rook’s announcement comes nearly two years after she made her first bid for political office. She previously sought the Republican nomination for state treasurer, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Rook tallied the third-most votes in the August 2024 primary, trailing incumbent Vivek Malek, who would go on to be elected to the position last November, as well as then-state Sen. Andrew Koenig, according to Missouri secretary of state election results.

Rook said this morning via email that her experience running for state treasurer made her realize through the people she met and stories she heard on the campaign trail that “Jefferson City is more broken than I even realized.”

“My belief in the need for actual conservative fighters was only further validated through that experience,” she said.

The primary election is on Aug. 4, 2026, followed by the general election on Nov. 3. The first day for candidate filing in the primary election with the Missouri secretary of state’s office is Feb. 24, 2026, according to its website.