Due to partisan gerrymandering last year by the Missouri General Assembly, the congressional district for those living in northern Boone County looks quite different from the last time they went to the ballot box.
“Republicans did a very effective job at gerrymandering the 5th District in Missouri,” said the Erin Covey, House editor at the Cook Political Report, an independent, nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes American political trends.
Six Republicans are looking to challenge longtime Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City.
The 5th District used to be centered around Kansas City, representing about half of Jackson County. The new district still contains parts of Jackson County, but now sprawls over 150 miles to contain parts of Boone and Cole counties, swallowing up major parts of what used to be the 3rd and 4th Districts.
Historically, in a midterm election, the president’s party loses favor and congressional seats. Against that backdrop, the GOP’s razor-thin margin in the House of Representatives seemed deeply concerning to President Donald Trump.
Trump encouraged Missouri and several other states to take part in an unusual mid-decade redrawing of the congressional maps.
“We have the seat rated solid Republican,” Covey said. “It would take a really massive blue wave for Democrats to win the seat at this point.”
The six Republican candidates for the 5th District seat appear on the Aug. 4 primary ballot in this order:
- Brad Patty
- Brett Hueffmeier
- Taylor Burks
- Rick Brattin
- Berton A. Knox
- Micah Beebe
Brad Patty
Patty, 45, is an Army veteran and holds a master's degree in business administration from Liberty University. He is the only candidate living within the newly redrawn 5th District.
Members of Congress are not required to reside in their district, although almost all do.
Patty said his campaign has three priorities: pro-life policies, affordability and accountability.
During an interview with the Missourian, he voiced positions ranging from advocating for a constitutional amendment to outlaw abortion nationwide to eliminating income tax on both the state and federal levels.
He said that Missouri was off to a good start with the proposal to eliminate the state income tax, but that he did not agree with the amendment’s proposal of raising the sales tax.
“Only a politician can say that, ‘Hey, I’m going to reduce taxes, but on the back end, I’m going to increase taxes,’” Patty said. “Well, nothing’s changed except who pays for it.”
Patty is on the Fayette City Council. This is his first run for Congress.
Brett Hueffmeier
Hueffmeier, 46, holds a law degree from Saint Louis University. If elected, he said he would focus on restoring rural hospitals.
“No. 1 (priority) is reopening rural hospitals because that’s something that I think can be feasibly done,” Hueffmeier said.
He said he aims to take a two-pronged approach, starting with expanding options for veterans so they can use their Medicare benefits at any private hospital instead of traveling long distances to seek care at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
He said a large number of veterans live in rural areas and need to travel to a major city to visit a VA hospital. VA clinics dotted throughout the state do not offer the wide variety of services that the hospitals do, he said.
Hueffmeier said he favors overturning a federal law that bans new physician-owned hospitals from participating in Medicare. That law was intended to limit physician self-referrals in the program.
“I think that these are things that are concrete approaches that really benefit the whole country and kind of fix a problem that has resulted from some of the lack of funding recently,” he said.
He acknowledged that his goals may be lofty and hard to achieve for a freshman congressman. He said he plans to buy a house within the 5th District if elected.
This is Hueffmeier’s first time running for office.
Taylor Burks
Burks, 40, is a graduate of Truman State University. He holds two master's degrees earned while in the Navy and is a commander in the Navy Reserves.
He was appointed by Gov. Eric Greitens in 2017 as Boone County clerk, where he served for a little over a year. Since then, he has held a number of other titles, including director of Missouri’s Division of Labor Standards.
Burks is leading his Republican opponents in overall fundraising. He has raised over $1.1 million, and $900,000 of the funds comes from a loan he made to his campaign.
If elected, Burks said he hopes to focus on national security, election integrity and agriculture and seeks a seat on the House Agriculture Committee.
“Missouri does not have a member of Congress serving on the Agriculture Committee,” Burks said. “Growing up on a cattle farm, being able to be a voice for the rural parts of the district, that’s an important aspect.”
Burks lives in Boone County, about five miles outside of the new district, but said he would move to the district if elected.
Burks ran for Congress unsuccessfully in the 4th District in 2022.
Rick Brattin
Brattin, 46, served as a U.S. Marine for six years, and later founded a construction business. He served in the Missouri House for four terms, and has been a state senator since 2020.
Brattin served as Cass County auditor between his legislative roles and said he believes that his time in government gives him an advantage over his opponents.
“I know how to navigate the system to be effective,” Brattin said. “The objectionable goals that I campaign on, I’ve delivered on, versus hopes and dreams and a bunch of maybes and question marks from the other candidates.”
If elected, Brattin said he would stand strong on issues of immigration and judicial reform. Last year, as a state senator, he butted heads with the Missouri Supreme Court after it declared one of his bills unconstitutional.
Brattin took to social media to attack the court.
Brattin ran unsuccessfully for Missouri’s 4th District in 2022.
Berton A. Knox
Knox, 70, is a graduate of the Navy nuclear power program and a retired chief engineer from the Merchant Marines, where he served for 23 years. He filed as a candidate for the 5th District before the new map became law. He ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2014 and 2016.
Because of the redrawn maps, he now lives outside the district.
Knox said that the gerrymandering made him “sort of feel like a carpet-bagger,” prompting him to campaign less than he originally set out to do. Knox does not have a campaign website or any social media pages promoting his run.
“They changed the district and since I didn’t live in the district, I sort of didn’t pursue it that heavily any longer," he said.
Knox said that if elected, he would focus on issues like voter integrity and maintaining social security.
Micah Beebe
Beebe, 42, holds a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Baptist University. He is a commercial real estate broker who has worked in Missouri and Texas and hails from the Kansas City area.
Beebe said he is focused on affordability, complaining that Americans suffered from high inflation rates during the Biden administration. He said that he especially noted higher home prices and said inflation affected his business.
“Because I work in real estate, when interest rates shot up the way they did, the economy went really downhill,” Beebe said. “Investors held back, they weren’t doing deals, they weren’t buying property.”
He said that this was due to actors in the federal government not fully understanding how their policies “impact the people on Main Street,” and pointed to the Biden administration's increase in spending. He said that the Trump administration had made good progress in lowering inflation, but that the economy would be one of his top priorities if elected.
Beebe unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Texas’ 26th District in 2016. He was a resident of the 5th District, but due to gerrymandering, now resides just a few blocks outside of it. He said he would consider moving within the bounds of the district if elected.