Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer is not seeking a ninth term as Missouri’s 3rd District representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. Running for his position in the primary are Republicans Arnie (Arn) Dienoff of O’Fallon, Chad Bicknell of Arnold, Kyle Bone of De Soto, Bob Onder of St. Charles, Kurt Schaefer of Columbia, Justin Hicks of Wentzville and Bruce Bowman of Jefferson City and Democrats Bethany Mann of St. Peters and Andrew Daly of Fulton.
Dienoff, Bicknell, Schaefer, Hicks, Bowman and Daly did not return a Leader questionnaire.
The winners of the August primary will face Libertarian Jordan Rowden of Vienna.
The district, which was redrawn following the 2020 federal Census, now includes western half of Jefferson County and all or parts of Boone, Callaway, Camden, Cole, Cooper, Gasconade, Maries, Miller, Montgomery, Moniteau, Osage, St. Charles, Warren and Washington counties.
U.S. representatives are paid $174,000 per year. The term is for two years.
Republicans
Bone, 50, of De Soto works for Boeing as advanced F/A-18 systems, integrated logistics and test lead. From 2011 to 2017, he worked at Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic at NAS Oceana, Virginia, doing mission planning and training. He graduated from Farmington High School in 1992 and served four years in the U.S. Navy. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Columbia College in 2005. He is married to Jennifer and they have three children.
Kyle Bone
Onder, 62, of St. Charles is a retired physician. He is married to Allison and has six children. He earned his medical degree at Washington University and his juris doctorate at St. Louis University.
What experience do you have (elected office, civic organizations, volunteer work, etc.) that might serve you well in this position?
Bone: I served First Baptist Church De Soto - various roles, 2016-present, and Parkway Baptist Church, Creve Coeur, various roles. I served in the U.S. Navy leading men and women in a military environment. In every one of these organizations and throughout my life I learned to be more of a servant leader. A leader needs to put the needs of others ahead of his own. If you do that, people will follow.
Onder: Missouri state Senate, 2015-2023 and Missouri House, 2007-2008.
What specific needs exist in your district, and how would you address them?
Bone: Persistent inflation is a huge problem in our district. (Gas, food, rent, house prices, are all up 20-30 percent). We address this by controlling federal budgets and incentivizing oil and gas production. Don’t spend federal dollars on meaningless programs just to get votes. Also, stop trying to force everyone into electric cars. Another problem is the fentanyl flooding our streets (this kills 80,000 Americans per year). This is addressed, along with illegal immigration, by closing our border. Build a wall and reinstate the Trump-era policies. These two things will also positively affect the job market.
Onder: ■ Ensure safety and security by closing the border.
■ Renew 2017 Trump tax cuts.
■ Eliminate U.S. Dept of Education and indoctrination and woke mandates.
What steps should the U.S. government take to address concerns about immigration and border security?
Bone: ■ Build a border barrier. Texas has proven this works, and they are just using razor wire.
■ Reinstate Trump-era policies (remain in Mexico).
■ Deport illegal aliens, not just felons, but all illegal aliens. This can be done if we have the will.
■ Change the asylum process (you can’t claim asylum just because your country has a cruddy job market).
■ Stop catch and release. Illegal aliens should be held until their hearing.
■ Prioritize enforcing our border over the borders of Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, etc.
Onder: Reinstate Trump immigration policies; close the border and build a border wall; end amnesty and chain migration; deport illegal aliens.
What steps should the government take to address concerns about the economy?
Bone: ■ Make the Trump tax cuts permanent (set to expire in a couple of years).
■ Get inflation under control/stop spending unlimited federal dollars that we don’t have. Every dollar the federal government takes from a citizen is one less dollar spent in the private economy.
■ Incentivize companies to move factories back to the US. The more people that have good paying jobs, the less people that the government has to provide services to.
■ Stop making regulations that make it harder to start a business and succeed. It’s the government’s job to remove barriers, not put them up.
Onder: ■ Renew 2017 Trump tax cuts.
■ Drill for domestic affordable energy.
■ Reduce regulatory burden.
Why should voters elect you to this position? List your goals, if elected.
Bone: I am a political outsider with business experience, and a proven conservative leader. I am the only one in this race that understands the threats we face as a nation and what we can do to meet those challenges. Consider that we have been sending retread Republicans/ladder climbers to DC for the last 50 years. It has gotten us nothing but disappointment. Send a political outsider that will get things done. I am asking for your vote so I can serve the citizens of our district and focus on your priorities, not mine.
Onder: I am the conservative in this race. I was a Trump delegate in 2016, a Trump alternate in 2020, and a Trump surrogate in Iowa in 2024. I’m the only candidate endorsed by Missouri Right to Life.
Democrats
Mann, 41, of St. Peters, is an ion chromatography representative II at Metrohm USA. She is married to Carson and has three children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois in Springfield in 2010.
Bethany Mann
What experience do you have (elected office, civic organization membership, volunteer work, etc.) that might serve you well in this position?
Mann: I can solve complex problems and explain the value of solutions to everyone involved in making a plan work successfully. I am on the executive board of the Kansas Laboratory Education Association, which means that I am already forming multi-state coalitions to educate and improve lab and infrastructure practices in the Midwest. I am the vice chair of the Missouri Democrats LGBTQIA+ caucus, so I support fighting for the rights and freedoms of all Americans.
What specific needs exist in your district, and how would you address them?
Mann: I will upgrade water infrastructure so that our water is clean and free of contaminants like lead and forever chemicals. This will improve public health, create high-paying union jobs, and attract semiconductor and battery manufacturers who rely on clean water.
Students should be fully supported from pre-k to secondary education in fully, equitably-funded public schools. I will address the cost of childcare for working families, champion universal pre-k, and pass a permanent extension of the Child Tax Credit.
Healthcare access should be expanded and affordable. I support Medicare For All. I trust Americans to make medical decisions without government interference.
What steps should the U.S. government take to address concerns about immigration and border security?
Mann: We must deal with immigration crisis with empathy and upgrades in technology. I support bipartisan efforts to upgrade technology infrastructure, so families can legally enter the United States, work, and contribute to our economy without compromising our national security. American infrastructure badly needs improvements. A jobs program with union apprenticeships will help us rebuild here and offer a clear pathway to citizenship for families in search of a better life. Customs and border control agents should have tools that can quickly scan and determine the contents of packages and shipments to stop the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl.
What steps should the government take to address concerns about the economy?
Mann: Corporate greed plays a major role in the struggles that working families face from high food and energy prices to low wages. I will strengthen anti-trust laws, enhance the power of the National Labor Relations Board and pass the ProAct, so that everyone has the right to collectively bargain for higher wages, paid family leave, and secure benefits. We should secure our supply chain by making more in America. I will advocate for manufacturing that uses responsible environmental practices, so that Missourians can have access to high-paying union jobs in the semiconductor and chip manufacturing industries.
Why should voters elect you to this position? List your goals, if elected.
Mann: My experience working in water and energy infrastructure, agriculture, and manufacturing uniquely qualifies me to serve in Congress. I am a mom of three, so understand the daily challenges that working families face, including the devastating financial and emotional consequences of intrusive reproductive healthcare bans that we see here in Missouri. My main legislative priorities will be to improve water infrastructure using some of the billions of federal dollars that have been allocated for water cleanup and remediation, champion universal pre-k and family leave, and I will expand healthcare access by supporting Medicare For All.
