JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri native Tommy Sowers has won confirmation to a top spot in the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill said Friday that Sowers was confirmed Thursday evening by the Senate to serve as the department’s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs. He had been appointed by President Barack Obama.

Sowers is a Rolla native and Army veteran who served in Iraq and Kosovo. He ran as a Democrat two years ago against Republican U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in southeast Missouri, but Sowers lost while receiving less than 29 percent of the vote.

Sowers recently was an adviser for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. He previously taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

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