Missouri part of parties’ midterm struggle for power in Congress
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The map looks a little different in this 2022 midterm election cycle.
Missouri’s congressional districts were redrawn this year during a contentious battle in the Senate between Republican leadership and a group of conservatives who wanted a map that was more favorable to the GOP.
In the end, Gov. Mike Parson signed a map that keeps the current status quo of six safe Republican districts and two safe Democratic districts intact. But the new map shifts some significant boundaries. Among the shifts is splitting Columbia and Boone County between two districts.
Fourth Congressional District
VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Jack Truman; Mark Alford
The Fourth Congressional District included Columbia before the map was changed. Now it takes in the city’s and Boone County’s northern areas but also stretches to the Kansas City suburbs.
The Fourth District seat is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who lost in her pursuit of the Republican nomination for Senate.
Mark Alford, a former Kansas City TV news anchor with 35 years of journalism experience from the Kansas City suburb of Raymore, won the Republican nomination in a crowded, seven-member field. His platform includes issues that have taken center stage for conservatives such as election security, gun rights and a commitment to stopping abortion. On his website, Alford says “We all know that something wasn’t right with the election in 2020,” focusing on voting allowances states made because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jack Truman is the only Democrat to have run for the seat and he will appear on the November ballot in his first run for public office. Truman says he has worked in the entertainment industry.
Truman labels himself a "liberal conservative" who is running a virtual, self-funded campaign.
This map shows where the line between the Third and Fourth districts splits Boone County.
Third Congressional District
VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Blaine Luetkemeyer, Bethany Mann
The path for a newcomer taking the Third Congressional District won’t be easy – incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Miller County is running to keep his seat.
Like the Fourth District, the lines of the Third were redrawn this year. The district now contains part of Columbia and Boone County, which it didn’t before. And the district now stretches into the St. Louis outskirts.
Luetkemeyer easily defeated three other Republicans for the party nomination. His November opponent, Democrat Bethany Mann, also beat out three others for her party's nomination.
Mann stresses the need for rural development, including infrastructure developments, broadband access and funding for public schools. She also advocates Medicare for all.
Sixth Congressional District
The Sixth Congressional District stretches across northern Missouri from east to west and includes a few Mid-Missouri counties -- Chariton, Randolph and Audrain.
Like the Third District, the Sixth District race includes the incumbent, Sam Graves of Tarkio. He fended off challenges from four fellow Republicans in the August primary.
Henry Martin of Kansas City emerged from a field of three Democrats in the primary.
U.S. Senate
The biggest statewide race on the ballot – and the one that’s drawn the lion’s share of headlines – is the U.S. Senate race.
The seat is being vacated by the retired U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, leaving a vacuum that literally dozens of candidates sought to fill. It drew 21 filed Republican candidates and 11 Democrats put their names on the ballot.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who has a history of litigation that his opponents say is designed to benefit him politically, emerged from the crowded Republican primary.
Schmitt has illustrated his conservative positions through the lawsuits and other legal action his office has taken, including suing school districts for coronavirus mask rules, supporting the case that led to the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade and demanding that schools turn over student surveys and other materials.
Trudy Busch Valentine won the Democratic primary. Busch Valentine is a member of the family at the head of Anheuser-Busch and a former nurse who has dumped millions into her own campaign.
Busch Valentine says she'll work for everyday Missourians in Washington but Schmitt's campaign tries to label her as out of touch because of her family's status.
