When U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer startled the Missouri political world with the announcement of his retirement earlier this year, the St. Elizabeth Republican said he thought the GOP race to replace him would be contentious.
“It would not surprise me that they would denigrate into some mudslinging of some kind,” Luetkemeyer told St. Louis Public Radio in January.
Luetkemeyer was correct. The primary to replace him features two major contenders — former state Sens. Bob Onder and Kurt Schaefer — who are throwing some sharp elbows and making different pitches to voters.
Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District is heavily Republican, and the winner of the Aug. 6 primary will be favored to represent a district that stretches from mid-Missouri to the St. Louis metropolitan area.
Onder is fashioning himself in the mold of Republican members of Congress who are unafraid to go against the grain of their party or their leadership. He’s pointing to his time in the Missouri Senate, where he became a thorn in the side of GOP heavyweights, with varying degrees of success.
“We need to send strong leadership to D.C. so that D.C. will listen to the people of this state and the people of the country,” Onder said.
Schaefer is also zeroing in on his tenure in the Senate, which included a lengthy stint as the chamber’s Appropriations Committee chairman. He said he can help solve some of the nation’s vexing problems, as opposed to merely striving to get attention.
“From my days in the Senate, I'm known as somebody who doesn't just talk,” Schaefer said. “I actually get things done.”
With former President Donald Trump endorsing Onder and Luetkemeyer backing Schaefer, the 3rd District contest may also be a test on whether a national leader’s backing is more valuable than a longtime local one.
The race is also a regional battle, with some mid-Missouri residents supporting Schaefer because they’re fearful the focus of the district will shift to the St. Louis area.
As of mid-July, Onder had a fundraising edge over Schaefer — thanks in part to the $500,000 of his own money he put into the contest. His campaign has more than $678,000 in the bank to spend in the final weeks of the campaign.
Schaefer has a little more than $200,000 in the bank. But he’s received help from Luetkemeyer, who donated $250,000 from his campaign to a political action committee called Missouri Conservatives for Congress. That PAC has spent more than $1 million to help Schaefer.
Onder’s evolution
Onder is a physician and an attorney who was first elected to the Missouri House in 2006. Before his time in elected office, he was an outspoken opponent of embryonic stem cell research and was part of a group that almost defeated an initiative enshrining protections for stem cell research in the state constitution.
During his brief tenure in the House, Onder sponsored a multifaceted bill aimed at curbing illegal immigration. It included provisions banning sanctuary cities and requirements on employers to prevent them from hiring undocumented immigrants.
Onder has said his backing of this bill shows he possesses the policy experience to tackle the issue on a federal level.
“I am the person with the strongest conservative record in this race,” Onder said. “And it’s easy to say the right thing on the campaign trail. It’s another thing to fight the good fight and to walk the walk when you’re in public office.”
After then-U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof decided to run for governor in 2008, Onder jumped into a wild race to replace the Columbia Republican. Onder and Luetkemeyer emerged as the two main candidates in the five-person field. They both poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into the race, which went toward ads that sharply attacked each other. Luetkemeyer ended up winning the primary and the general election, and Onder spent the next six years out of political office.
Onder made a comeback in 2014 when he easily won the GOP primary to represent Missouri’s 2nd Senate District, which was tantamount to election since it’s heavily Republican. At first, Onder appeared to be operating in a similar manner as he was in the House — sponsoring high-profile bills that ultimately made it to the governor’s desk.
That changed in 2018 when Onder lost a race for Senate president pro tem to Dave Schatz. After that defeat, Onder joined with a number of other GOP senators to form the Conservative Caucus — which clashed for several years with Republican leaders on a host of issues.
And while the Conservative Caucus failed in some of its big policy initiatives, such as passing a congressional redistricting map with seven Republican districts and one Democratic one, Onder said his willingness to stand up to powerful institutions in Jefferson City will serve him well in Washington, D.C.
“The way I put it: If you won’t stand up to the Jeff City swamp, you’ll never stand up to the D.C. swamp,” Onder said.
Schaefer seeking to return to office
Schaefer is a Columbia-based attorney who served in several state government positions before he was elected, including as the general counsel for the Department of Natural Resources and in the attorney general’s office.
In 2008, Schaefer knocked off incumbent Sen. Chuck Graham in one of the biggest upsets in Columbia political history, winning the seat for the GOP when other Missouri Republican candidates lost.
During his time in the Senate, Schaefer was best known for his lengthy stint as Appropriations Committee chairman, giving him major influence over the trajectory of the budget.
“My record is as conservative as you can get,” Schaefer said. “And it's a record of accomplishments. Not a record of just getting out on social media and talking about how conservative you are.”
Schaefer ran for attorney general in 2016, losing decisively to eventual winner Josh Hawley. He was out of electoral politics for the past eight years and has been a registered lobbyist for a number of clients. Schaefer terminated his lobbyist registration after he declared for Congress.
Schaefer pointed to legislative accomplishments in office including sponsorship of a constitutional amendment protecting gun rights, his push to strike state funding for Planned Parenthood and cutting spending as Appropriations Committee chairman.
He said he would take that same approach to the U.S. House, especially when it comes to issues like fighting illegal immigration.
“People want to come from other countries that are not in as good of a position for whatever reason,” Schaefer said. “But it doesn't mean that we destroy our economy and kill our kids by saying, ‘We need to take everybody.’ And it's simply not acceptable, that process has to be restored, where we know who's coming in.”
Trump’s support vs. Luetkemeyer’s
Trump endorsed Onder, complete with a statement that Schaefer was “weak on MAGA” without elaborating. Some of Onder’s backers contend that Trump’s backing will be decisive.
“If I asked my friends, they probably wouldn't even be able to tell you that we have a competitive race in the 3rd Congressional District right now,” said Zephrem Conrad, a St. Charles County resident who supports Onder. “But they do follow national politics generally a lot more closely than local politics. So being able to say that Trump, this national figure and stalwart in the conservative sphere, is endorsing me, is huge for Onder.”
Onder is also receiving support from members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of GOP lawmakers who have clashed with leadership in the past. That includes Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, who said in a statement that Onder “will put America First by standing alongside President Trump to reverse the disastrous policies of the Biden Administration, secure our southern border and get our economy moving again.”
Luetkemeyer threw his support behind Schaefer — and pointed out at a recent Jefferson City event that Onder lived just outside the district.
And some of Schaefer’s supporters, especially those who live in mid-Missouri, are leery about having someone from the St. Louis region representing the 3rd District.
“He does not live in the district. He does not know central Missouri,” said Carolyn McDowell, a Jefferson City business owner and a former member of that city’s council. “But we are the heartland of the United States. And here we have a person who doesn't live in the district and can't even vote for himself.”
Onder has pointed out that he’s lived in the 3rd District for many years and represented a portion of it in the House and Senate. His home was drawn into the 2nd Congressional District after redistricting became final in 2022.
Jennifer Bukowsky, a Columbia attorney who supports Schaefer, said that it’s important to have someone who lives in mid-Missouri in Congress — which has been the case since the mid-1990s. She also said Schaefer’s record shows that he’ll make a bigger impact.
“I had the privilege of watching our [U.S. House] Speaker Mike Johnson speak at a luncheon. And he needs help,” Bukowsky said. “He doesn't need another Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz who is going to throw bombs and be calling for votes of no confidence or to redo the speaker's race. He needs someone there that will do the job and get things done.”
Whoever wins the Aug. 6 contest will be heavily favored to win in November against either of the Democrats running — Bethany Mann or Andrew Daly — in the heavily Republican-leaning district.
