Former state Sen. Bob Onder will likely be heading to Washington, D.C., next year after winning the Republican primary for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday.
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Onder, a physician and attorney, won 48.7% of the vote compared to Kurt Schaefer’s 38.3%. The district includes parts of the St. Louis metropolitan area, such as St. Charles and Jefferson counties, as well as a major portion of mid-Missouri. Since the district is heavily Republican, Onder will be the overwhelming favorite to win in November.
“I ran for Congress because our country is in a state of crisis,” Onder said after the victory. “The country that gave us so many prizes is under attack. I ran for Congress to make DC listen. If DC were listening, we would be closing the border and building a wall.”
Onder served for two terms in the Missouri Senate and a single term in the House. During his state legislative service, he sponsored a wide-ranging bill to crack down on illegal immigration — including banning so-called sanctuary cities and making businesses check the immigration status of employees. He’s also been a steadfast opponent of abortion rights, and received the sole endorsement of Missouri Right to Life in the 3rd District contest.
“A lot of money from out of state … was spent against me in this election,” Onder said. “But where people knew me best they said, ‘He is the conservative who will work with Donald Trump to take our country back.’”
Midway through his Senate tenure, Onder often clashed with GOP leadership. He joined what was known as the Conservative Caucus, a group of senators who filibustered major pieces of economic development legislation and also pushed for a more GOP-leaning congressional map.
That 2022 map drew his house slightly outside of the 3rd Congressional District, which became a major source of attack for Schaefer — who represented a Columbia-based Senate district from 2009 to 2017. Schaefer’s allies poured millions of dollars into supportive political action committees that attacked Onder’s professional and political record including his support for Ted Cruz during the 2016 GOP presidential primary campaign.
But Onder received a major boost when former President Donald Trump endorsed his candidacy and called Schaefer “weak on MAGA.”
“Now is the time to be together and to be united as a party,” Onder said. “As people who love our country, who are committed to making this country a better place and who are committed to electing Donald J Trump.”
Onder took aim at Schaefer’s prior comments describing himself as a moderate primarily during his first campaign for the Missouri Senate against then-Sen. Chuck Graham. And Onder also got a boost from his own wallet: As of mid-July, Onder poured $700,000 of his own money into his campaign committee.
Luetkemeyer endorsed Schaefer, and sent about $625,000 from his campaign committee to help defeat Onder. Onder and Luetkemeyer ran against each other in a contentious Republican congressional primary in 2008 — an election that the St. Elizabeth Republican won.
