Following the announcement of current Monroe County State’s Attorney Chris Hitzemann on Thursday that he is running in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court as resident judge for Monroe County in the November 2020 election, his current assistant announced his candidacy for state’s attorney on Friday.

“After much prayer, I’m excited to announce my candidacy for Monroe County State’s Attorney,” Ryan Martin said. “It has been an honor and privilege to serve the residents of Monroe County these last few years as an assistant state’s attorney under Chris Hitzemann.”

Barring a last-minute primary challenge within his party, the Republican will face Democrat Celeste Korando next November. Korando announced her candidacy for state’s attorney last week.

“If I’m fortunate enough to be elected to the office by the voters of this county, I will continue to do what we have been doing these last three years – sending a clear message to criminals that if you bring drugs into our county, if you come to our county to steal from us, or if you commit violent offenses in our county, then we will go after you with the full force of the law,” Martin said.    

Martin, who grew up in Columbia, graduated from Liberty University School of Law in 2009, joined the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office in Kansas City in 2012. He currently resides in Waterloo and regularly attends Hope Christian Church in Columbia. 

“I’m so passionate about keeping drugs out of our county because I know well the dangers they pose, especially for our youth,” he said. “I want my children’s future to be better than my past. Everything I’ve ever had in my life I’ve had to fight for and there’s no one who will fight harder than me to protect this county.”   

Read more on Martin’s candidacy in the Nov. 27 newspaper. To subscribe, click here.