Fifth Congressional District candidate interview: Rick Brattin

Six Republicans are competing in the August primary for the Fifth Congressional District seat. Taylor Burks, Rick Brattin, Brett Hueffmeier, Micah Beebe, Berton Knox and Brad Patty are all challenging incumbent Emanuel Cleaver, who has held the seat since 2005.

Congressional districts were redrawn in 2025 during a special session aimed at giving Republicans an advantage in the U.S. House. The once-KC-centric district now stretches from the Kansas border to Osage County. It includes much of Boone County, and all of Cole County.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Erika McGuire: What made you want to run for the Fifth Congressional District?

Rick Brattin: I just hate to see the direction our nation's going. I think we have great leadership under the administration, but we've got to have people who understand what's at stake and willing to fight for it. I'm a new grandfather. My granddaughter's almost 6 months old and just seen the trajectory. We've got to have people that are willing to save American for the next generation. So that's probably the biggest reason why I got into the race.

McGuire: What do you see as the biggest issue facing voters in the Fifth District right now?

Brattin: It's a myriad of issues. Immigration is one that I've tried to combat and fight in my entire tenure in the legislature, just in general. We see it kind of coming to a head. We can't have 20 million people coming here illegally, taking up our housing, our jobs, our healthcare, committing scenes amounts of crime. We're seeing a lot of these programs were almost designed in a way for fraud, waste and abuse. How was it a bunch of people that come here as refugees are able to game the system and complete all of this mass fraud that we're seeing exposed all over this nation? The system was unfortunately set up it seems for that. We've got to be able to protect that and put a stop to it, put up guardrails, pass legislation that deports people.

It is a crime to come here illegally. I know there's rhetoric out there saying it's not, it is a crime. So when you break the law and come to America, it is a crime, you are therefore a criminal. It's not a victimless crime -- it's generations of kids that are Americans seeking jobs, seeking housing, wanting great healthcare that can't afford it ... because of illegal immigration that's overwhelming the system. The federal government came out with a report that 30% of the increased cost in housing is solely due to illegal immigration because they're taking up houses. I just don't understand the complexity as to why we can't fix this. So to me, that's like one numero uno of what we got to deal with.

McGuire: How would you address, you just mentioned the cost of housing, groceries, gas. It keeps going up, and then it drops. How would you address that for people in the Fifth Congressional District?

Brattin: We've got to get the people here that are taking the jobs, taking the housing, and get them out, and to where you're able to ensure the supply and demand is capable to be met for the American citizen. That's how you bring prices down, as you don't overwhelm the system with the influx of individuals partaking in all of these amenities and the things we require. It's really simple, but it's difficult as we see where you have ICE, you have these organizations going and doing their job that's given to them statutorily, and told to do. Yet we're seeing all this obstruction and all these riots and all this craziness to put a stop to deportation. It's like nothing I think we've ever seen before. Such unrest over protecting criminal aliens in America.

McGuire: Going back to the immigration stuff, this is the questions I've asked everybody. If you can go in-depth more, what will you do with immigration on the federal level?

Brattin: We've got to update our system, and so right now employers have to fill out the I-9 form. It's an extremely antiquated system where you're just filling out paperwork. It takes forever for people to be able to vet, make sure that the numbers, Social Security numbers and employment information is correct. We have this amazing system called eVerify that's almost 100% reliable. It's instantaneous, so virtually instantaneous in 97% of cases to be able to verify whether it's a legal citizen or it's fraudulent numbers or what have you, or at least give you some sort of awareness that there's a problem. Make it to where eVerify is replacing that antiquated system. That way, employers aren't able to, aren't employing people, and you know, which is probably the No. 1 attributer to why we're having this influx.

Not holding them accountable, but making sure there are systems and processes in place to where people aren't hiring illegally. But in the housing aspect and all that, verifying who these people are, not just turning a blind eye and holding people accountable that are bringing the influx over here. But again, it's really the enforcement funding, and it's doing everything we can for things that are already on the books. They're not going to come here if they're not able to obtain the jobs and get that sort of these benefits, and like our any sort of healthcare or welfare program, ensure it's ironclad that you're not going to come here illegally and obtain welfare benefits and get in-state tuition, and those those sorts of things. Putting a real strict ironclad prohibition on that stuff. So those are just a few things, and they will it will help to solve itself once we stop, we turn that spigot off.

McGuire: What is your top priority if elected?

Brattin: I mean, that was No. 1 because again, you look at everything at the increased costs of living, housing, education. You look at the the housing, healthcare, all that is really incumbent in that. So that's my top priority.

But also making sure that a lot of the executive orders that the administration has put come into place, but make sure that it's statutorily done to where, hey, we're not ripping the rug out from underneath as soon as we get a potential new administration to where there's no certainty in the marketplace, certainty in regulatory environments, those sorts of things.

I think also one that's really not talked about is tapping into our natural resources we have in America, to where we're dependent on foreign aspects on so many things. We have the most robust lumber, capabilities, and that's that's available to the United States. That's the whole purpose why we got Alaska to begin with. We have prohibitions through EPA and all this to where we're not able to even tap into our resources. It makes no sense whatsoever. We could use the lumber, the timber, the the mining capabilities to our fullest extent, and we wouldn't even scratch the surface for 200 years in doing this at the extent of which we are now, but yet we tie our hands behind our back and riddle all those costs and pass those costs on to the consumer. So things like that would have massive, good implications if we were to adopt that and stop, again tying our hands behind our back, which is what has occurred generationally.

McGuire: This would be my last question. Is there anything that you want to touch base on that I didn't ask that you think voters should know ahead of this election?

Brattin: Yeah, I think it's important that we get somebody who has experience in legislative world and realm. It's said that this is moving up to the major leagues when it comes to the legislative process, going to D.C. Sending someone who has no voting record, no track record, no anything, no experience whatsoever into the major leagues. You would never draft somebody who just told you that they could play baseball. You would never hire a builder who had never driven a single nail in a two-by-four. You would never do those things. That's why it's so critical to get someone who has that proven track record that's going to fight for the issues important to them. That's what you'll get out of my campaign. I have that proven track record. I can't run from it. These guys can literally tell you anything and everything that you want to hear just to get elected. So I don't think America is in a place right now to afford to do that.