As a child who grew up with parents facing addiction, 4th Congressional District candidate Jordan Herrera says much of his childhood was spent depending on the kindness of others.
“I can’t tell you how many nights I would run out of my home, with sometimes no shoes on, getting my feet scraped up, running across the street to knock on the door, and wake up Martha Walker,” Herrera said during an Oct. 13 town hall hosted by the Boone County Democrats.
Decades later, he’s running for Missouri’s 4th District seat in the House of Representatives, where he wants to be the good Samaritan he said his district needs.
“It doesn’t matter your qualifications to be a neighbor,” Herrera said, speaking after the town hall. “It matters whether or not you’re willing to accept the invitation to become a neighbor to someone else in need. And so, for me, that’s exactly what I’m doing. This campaign is nearly an invitation for every Missourian to help a neighbor in need.”
A veteran of the Air Force and former state assistant attorney general, Herrera is challenging incumbent Mark Alford, a Republican former small business owner and news anchor who has held the office since 2023. The district has been Republican-led since 2011.
By advancing past the primary, Herrera became the first Mexican-American and first openly gay man to be nominated for a federal seat in Missouri.
“I think it’s important to recognize that Mexican Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, and post-911 veterans still have not had the opportunity to represent,” he said. “So why it’s important to me is, if a Mexican American or a Latino person doesn’t have a seat at the table, then we’re not gonna be heard. We’re not going to be understood.”
Herrera’s policies are robust and detailed, with multistep plans to enact each item. He supports protecting reproductive freedom, making higher education more affordable, regulating data centers, securing the border and defending LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. Herrera’s priorities lie in economic support for Missouri residents, expanding healthcare access and establishing government reform to improve accountability.
“People who are willing to go in to limit their own power; that is servant leadership,” he said. “That is a servant who understands there is too much power currently contained at the top, or constrained at the top, such that the power of the people has been diminished, and that’s the kind of leader I’m looking for.”
For all his positivity, Herrera is equally fervent in his campaign rhetoric. He calls Alford a coward, a joker, a loser and a jackass without reservation. At the town hall, where Herrera and 3rd District candidate Bethany Mann answered voter questions, cardboard cutouts were set up in chairs next to them, labeled as Alford and Bob Onder, Mann’s opponent.
“I stood on two battlefields to do what I’m doing right now,” Herrera said, responding to a question about supporting LGBTQ+ rights. “I would challenge either one of these losers to do the same about anything that they care about. They had opportunities to serve, they never did. They’re just cowards.”
The 4th District has been a source of confusion within the state, as a series of court cases caused its boundaries to fluctuate between two maps.
“When I decided to run against Mark Alford in the 4th, because of the gerrymandering situation, I also understood full well that, you know, this is a risk,” he said.
Rather than campaigning in both district boundaries, he focused on the 2022 map, a decision that ultimately paid off as that map was approved.
With only weeks remaining before the election, Herrera’s campaign is in its final push as he strives to flip a solidly red seat. And as he enters the last stretch, his message of support and kindness remains strong.
“I believe very strongly in answering that call of being a good neighbor,” Herrera said. “I’m trying to remind every one of us the obligations and responsibilities we owe to one another as Americans, members of the same community and as neighbors.”