Bolivar pharmacist to run for state representative

Stephens Pharmacy Inc. owner Mike Stephens has thrown his hat in the ring for the 128th District seat of the Missouri House of Representatives.

The Bolivar pharmacist seeks the seat currently held by Sue Entlicher, R-Bolivar, who announced earlier this summer she will not run for re-election next year in order to spend more time with family, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Stephens, who will run as a Republican, said he would use his small-business knowledge to serve the district comprising Polk County and part of Cedar County.

“For four decades, day in day out, I’ve worked face to face with families and other small businesses. I have also seen, in the legislature, you have to work together, forge relationships, listen to others and be ready to speak,” Stephens said in a news release. “I can do that. I want to do that. I want to serve.”

A lifelong Bolivar resident, Stephens founded his pharmacy in 1975. Stephens Pharmacy won the Bolivar Area Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year award in 2006.

Stephens also has worked since 1975 as a member of the Missouri Pharmacy Association, which lobbies the state capitol on behalf of pharmacies statewide, according to the release.