<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

Another major independent campaign officially announced its launch Thursday. Craig O'Dear, a prominent attorney in Missouri, has officially entered the race for US Senate.

"On this tough day for our nation, I am more resolved than ever to chart a new way forward," O'Dear said on his Facebook Page.

O'Dear's campaign is founded on a number of core principles, including:

• The need to put country before party;
• Finding common ground to solve problems;
• Standing for opportunity, equality, and stewardship;
• Championing competition, transparency, and accountability in politics; and
• Encouraging increased citizen participation.

"Our country is at a historically difficult moment," says O'Dear. “The hyper-partisan warfare of parties is a major part of the problem.”

O'Dear joins a growing list of independent candidates running for state office, including Greg Orman, candidate for Kansas governor, Terry Hayes, the first independent state treasurer in Maine and a clean elections candidate for governor, Neal Simon, candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland, and incumbent Alaska Governor Bill Walker -- the only sitting independent governor in the nation.

Stay tuned for more coverage of these candidates and more.

Photo Credit: O'Dear for Senate