Primaries set for Missouri's 3rd U.S. House District, with established incumbent Republican

There are contested Democratic and Republican primaries in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District, which now includes southern Boone County after redistricting.

The primary is Aug. 2.

Blaine Luetkemeyer is the incumbent and one of four Republican candidates. He has served in Congress since 2008, giving him an advantage. There also are four Democratic candidates on the ballot.

In Boone County, the district includes south Columbia, the main University of Missouri campus, Ashland and Rocheport.

The new 3rd District will have more political influence than the redrawn 4th District, said MU professor Peverill Squire in May. His reasoning included the incumbent Congressman, MU and that the district includes some St. Louis suburbs.

The following information was gathered from candidates' online campaign materials:

Democratic candidates

Andrew Daly

Daly, of Fulton, was born deaf and is the activities director for the Missouri School for the Deaf. He signed in a campaign video that his goal in the campaign is not to win, but to highlight issues important to him.

Those include economic inequity and improving teacher pay, his campaign website states. He is pro-choice and signed that the Supreme Court's scuttling of abortion rights was the first time a constitutional right has been taken away.

Dylan Durrwatcher

Durrwatcher, of St. Peters, doesn't appear to have a campaign website.

Jon Karlen

Karlen, of O'Fallon, supports reproductive freedom, protecting LGBTQ+ rights, protecting the environment and rebuilding family farms, his campaign website states.

"I see so much great in Missouri and believe it deserves so much more than the dearth of leadership the modern day Republican Party gives it," he wrote on his website. "Candidly, I believe I’ve arrived at a point where I must either leave Missouri or fight for it. I believe that this great state deserves someone who’ll stay and fight."

Bethany Mann

Mann, of Brentwood, wants to protect the environment, voting rights and reproductive rights, provide access to high-quality health care and make infrastructure improvements, according to her campaign website. She issued this statement in a news release following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade:

The decision "comes after decades of organized efforts to dismantle human rights, so that Christofascists can rise to power on the backs of U.S. workers, particularly women and those in marginalized communities with high maternal death rates. It has nothing to do with babies or the sanctity of life to those who propagate false information about abortion and other forms of health care. It's about money, power, division and erasure."

Republican candidates

Dustin Hill

Hill, of Middletown, describes himself on his campaign website as a supporter of the Second Amendment and election integrity. He promotes an economic realignment with decentralized banking. He opposes vaccine mandates. He is pro-life.

"The obscene celebrations of abortion that we’re witnessing in the streets and online are the visible symptoms of a sick society," states a section of his website addressing abortion. "We must return sovereignty to our families by removing the state from every aspect of our lives."

Blaine Luetkemeyer

Luetkemeyer, of St. Elizabeth, served as a state representative from 1999 to 2005 and has represented Missouri's 3rd U.S. House District for seven terms.

His key issues include job creation, agriculture and the federal budget. He supports the Second Amendment, the sanctity of life and secure borders. He supports energy independence, stating on his website that all sources of energy need to be used.

Brandon Wilkinson

Wilkinson, of Cedar Hill, is a truck driver. He supports the Second Amendment, right to life, health care and lower taxes. He promotes an AR-15 giveaway on his campaign's Facebook page. In a video interview online, Wilkinson says naturalized citizens shouldn't have the ability to vote.

Also from Wilkinson's website: "I have been a conservative my entire life and believe strongly in Constitution as originally written and intended alongside the God given rights the Constitution commands be protected from government overreach."

Richard Skwira Jr.

In a July 9 post on the Missouri Political Action Facebook page, Skwira wrote that he was ending his campaign and endorsing Wilkinson.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Southern Columbia, MU in new 3rd District, with incumbent Luetkemeyer