Missouri Fifth Congressional candidates focus on immigration ahead of August primary
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri's newly drawn Fifth Congressional District will be a close watch as it could decide control of the U.S. House in November.
The so-called "Missouri First Map" was signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe in September 2025 after passing during a special legislative session. Since then, the map has survived court challenges and, currently, is the map in effect for the August and November elections.
The map was drawn to give Republicans an advantage in seven of Missouri's eight seats in Congress and would unseat Democrat Emanuel Cleaver, who has held the Fifth District seat since 2005.
Cleaver is running unopposed in his party's primary. But he'll have to win a very red district in November to retain his seat.
The district that once covered Kansas City now includes roughly the north half of Boone County, excluding Columbia, along with Cooper, Howard, Saline, Pettis, Morgan, Miller, Moniteau, Cole, Maries and Osage counties. It stretches to the Kansas border.
The chance to flip the Fifth has brought seven Republicans to the race:
- Taylor Burks of Columbia;
- Brad Patty of Fayette;
- Brett Huffmeier of Kansas City;
- Rick Brattin of Harrisonville;
- Berton Knox of North Kansas City;
- and Micah Beebe of Lee's Summit
ABC 17 News sat down with five of the six candidates ahead of the August election to learn their priorities and how they would handle issues facing everyday Missourians.
Berton Knox did not respond to ABC 17 News request for an interview.
Immigration continues to be a pressing topic as Immigration Customs Enforcement has been in cities across the U.S. looking to deport violent criminals in the country illegally.
ICE reports that 74,082 non-citizens have been arrested, including 12,025 individuals convicted of an aggravated felony.
ICE was reported in Pettis County in June and made multiple arrests at several businesses in the area.
State Sen. Rick Brattin spent six years as a United States Marine and says he is ready to fight in Congress to help President Donald Trump secure the border. He says the immigration system as a whole needs to be updated.
"Make sure there is systems and processes in place where people aren't hiring illegally, and in the housing aspect, verifying who these people are, not turning a blind eye, and holding people accountable who is bringing the influx here. But it's really the enforcement, funding and doing everything we can for things that are already on the books," Brattin said.
Taylor Burks served in the U.S. Navy and was Boone County's first Republican county clerk. Immigration, he says, comes down to enforcement but also a clearer path for legal workers.
"Securing the border is the first step we have to take and deporting people who come here illegally who break our rules, that process needs to be predictable, vetted and secure, so I think that future reforms to legal seasonal guest works in a great way to provide that stability in labor markets as well," Burks said.
Brad Patty is the only Republican candidate who lives in the Fifth Congressional District and is a 25-year U.S. Army veteran. For Patty, immigration is personal, as his wife is from El Salvador. He says a more efficient legal process for immigration in necessary.
"I cannot let any other immigration go ahead and get in front of the line ahead of my wife," Patty said. "I'm more than willing to have a conversation to decrease that 10-year process of separation and make this an efficient process, but as a whole, the standard is what the legal immigrants have done; no one gets to do it a different way."
Brett Hueffmeier says he has deep roots in the Fifth Congressional District as he was born in Linneus in Linn County. He worked for both former U.S. Sens. Kit Bond and John Ashcroft.
Hueffmeier says a long-term approach to Immigration is key if he is elected.
"We would deport anyone that has entered this country illegally, that's sort of respecting the rule of law, we have to be realistic about that I think it's going to take a long time to do that, and I think we have to look at some alternative approaches as well as deal with the problem right now," Hueffmeier said. "As far as tracking them, detaining them and going through the process of deportation"
Micah Beebe is a lifelong Missourian and businessman who grew up in Kansas City.
The immigration system, Beebe says, needs to work in a way that serves the country's interests.
"We need to have an immigration system that is for America, that is beneficial for our country. We need to make sure we aren't having an immigration system that we are so overrun that there's more people coming in from around the world than there are people in the United States because when that happens, we start to lose our identity," Beebe said.
