Springfield lawmaker launches bid for House speaker role

State Rep. Alex Riley, R-Springfield, is seeking to take on the top leadership role in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Riley, who was first elected as a state representative in 2020 and reelected in 2022 and 2024, announced his candidacy for the state House speaker role in a news release issued this morning. Just days after the 2025 election in November, Riley was elected by his Republican colleagues as majority floor leader, the No. 2 leadership role in the chamber. 

“Our Republican majority is comprised of duly elected members from all around the state that are actively representing their constituents. Short term limits have reduced institutional knowledge, allowing special interest groups and unelected bureaucrats to dominate in Jefferson City," Riley said in the release. "It is my goal to restore legislative authority to the people’s elected representatives to address real issues facing Missouri – like reforming the state’s broken initiative petition process, addressing crime and public safety, building our economy, improving education outcomes for our state’s kids and providing meaningful tax relief to hard-working Missourians."

Riley said via email this morning that House Republicans would gather in Jefferson City this September to elect what's called the speaker designee, referring to the Republican majority's speaker nominee. The formal election for the next speaker would be held on the first day of the 2027 legislative session, when all House members would vote, he said.

Riley noted that if elected, he would serve a two-year term as speaker. He said no other candidates are currently running for the speaker role.

The release indicates that, if elected, Riley would be the second House speaker from Springfield in the state’s history. The current House speaker is Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit.

In addition to his state representative position in Jefferson City, Riley is an attorney at Healy Law Offices LLC in Springfield.