District 8 U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican, is being challenged for his seat by Democrat Randi McCallian and Libertarian Jake Dawson in the Nov. 5 general election.
The district covers the eastern half of Jefferson County and southeast Missouri, including the Bootheel and extending west to near Branson.
The term is for two years, and U.S. representatives are paid $174,000 per year.
Dawson did not return a Leader survey.
Smith, 44, of Cape Girardeau is currently serving in Congress. He is a small business owner. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics/business administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a juris doctor (law) from Oklahoma City University.
McCallian, 38, of Newburg is a homemaker and caretaker and formerly a health program director. She has a master’s degree in public health from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s degree from Drake University. She is married to Chase and has two children.
What experience do you have (elected office, civic organizations, volunteer work, etc.) that might serve you well in this position?
Smith: As a seventh-generation Missourian and fourth-generation family farm owner, I’m a son of the Missouri soil. As the son of an auto mechanic and a factory worker, my humble, working-class roots are the experiences of so many southeast Missourians. The American Conservative Union chose me as the top conservative in the Missouri delegation, and my record shows how I am fighting for working-class Missourians, small businesses and farmers with all the policies I support.
McCallian: I have 20 years of experience improving health care access, reducing costs and improving child outcomes. I’ve served in roles directing programs to expand maternal and child health services in rural areas, supporting children with autism, and helping families with childbirth and infant feeding. I am also experienced in disaster management response. I have 10 years of legislative advocacy experience and serve on the Phelps County 911 Board and volunteer with our local animal shelter.
What specific needs exist in your district, and how would you address them?
Smith: The cost-of-living crisis that has been created under President Biden is the biggest challenge facing families in southeast Missouri, and I have been fighting every day against the policies that created that crisis. I opposed President Biden’s $2 trillion American Rescue Plan and his Inflation Act, the spending from which caused prices to spike over 20 percent since he took the oath of office. We need to rein in government spending, stop Washington bureaucrats from needlessly harming small businesses, and pass pro-growth, pro-family tax policies that grow our economy and leave Missourians’ money in their own wallets.
McCallian: Missouri’s 8th District faces the lowest median wages in the state, the highest rates of poverty and food insecurity, and the greatest loss of health care access. In contrast to our current representative, I would bring federal earmarks back home to our district to invest in critical infrastructure projects and support local investments. The 8th District would be a great location for a computer chip manufacturing facility, and we should provide good-paying jobs through investment in rural health care access. Policy to expand downstream health care providers, like nurse practitioners and midwives. would increase access to care in rural areas.
What steps should the U.S. government take to address concerns about immigration and border security?
Smith: Under President Trump, the border crisis had been brought under control with effective border security policies like Remain-in-Mexico and the ending of catch and release, along with the wall being built. On the first day of his presidency, President Biden began reversing all of these actions through executive action, creating the worst border crisis in our nation’s history. To control the crisis, we need to reimplement President Trump’s effective policies, build the wall, support our Border Patrol agents, and crack down on the criminals who have been allowed to stay in our country without consequence, regardless of serious crimes committed.
McCallian: Republicans in the U.S. House should have supported the bipartisan border security bill instead of voting against it when Trump told them he wanted to run for office on the crisis. We must elect people who want to resolve issues. Our current immigration system is a mess and needs to be improved. We need an easier path to citizenship, and it is reprehensible to see Republicans demonizing immigrants. We are a nation of immigrants, and we need them in our workforce to keep prices low and our economy growing.
What steps should the government take to address concerns about the economy?
Smith: President Trump produced the best economy of my lifetime, and it’s critical we reinstate his policies. We need to reverse the massive increase in government spending that the Biden-Harris administration championed, which fueled a cost-of-living crisis resulting in families paying nearly 20 percent more for everything. We need to extend commonsense tax relief for working families and small businesses, which Kamala Harris opposes. We need President Trump’s commitment to reducing overregulation, where 22 regulations were eliminated for each new one created. And we need an all-of-the above energy policy that includes oil, natural gas, nuclear and coal and alternative fuels.
McCallian: More action needs to be taken to limit corporate greed and price gouging. The Biden/Harris administration has been successful in some efforts to do this (e.g. decreasing costs of prescription medications), but far too many of our elected officials receive huge amounts of money from Big Business and the corporate lobby, and then vote in their favor, not ours. We need to become more self-sustaining in energy, medicines, education and infrastructure. Investing in America will benefit our economy and our workers.
Why should voters elect you to this position? List your goals, if elected.
Smith: As a working-class citizen-legislator who still lives in rural Missouri, my goals are to fight for the lives and values of the people I live among and represent. I have long believed the best government is that closest to the people at the local level, and I’ll never stop fighting against the Washington bureaucrats who seek to control Missourians’ lives and livelihoods through central control. I’m proud to be fighting against the woke, radical Left to promote a culture of life, to preserve Missourians’ Second Amendment freedoms, to secure the border, and to allow all Missourians to pursue their economic dreams.
McCallian: I’m organized, realistic and persistent. I have led expansive multi-state health programs and organized large groups of people to work for the common good. I want to see good-paying jobs that keep families here to raise the next generation, so I will bring our tax dollars back home through earmarks (something our current representative doesn’t do) and invest them in local infrastructure, health care and economic-boosting projects. I have decades of experience, a heart of gold and the will to kick corporate pawns out of our government and allow our district’s people to thrive once again.