Sixteen years ago, Bob Onder lost a bitterly contested Republican congressional primary to now-retiring Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.
Since that time, Onder’s political trajectory took plenty of twists and turns — including becoming a key member of state Senate Republicans who openly fought with GOP leadership. But after beating his former Senate colleague Kurt Schaefer in an August primary, Onder could be on his way to Washington next year as Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District representative.
“At the end of the day, I think our conservative message, our America First message, did break through, and the voters decided by a healthy margin to choose me as the Republican nominee,” Onder said on an episode of the Politically Speaking Podcast. “Forty-seven percent of the vote in a seven-way race is not bad.”
Onder is taking on Democrat Bethany Mann to represent the 3rd District, which is Republican-dominated and includes parts of the St. Louis area and portions of central Missouri. (Mann recorded an episode of Politically Speaking that will air later this week.)
If he’s elected, Onder said he would like to serve on the Ways and Means, Education and Workforce or Judiciary committees. Onder is a physician and also has a law degree.
“If we get that so-called trifecta, the presidency, the House and the Senate, in the first 100 days, we're going to have an agenda to secure the border and an agenda to renew the 2017 Donald Trump tax cuts,” Onder said. “We need to have an agenda to restore sane energy policy and reassert strength abroad, and I think we're going to be united on that.”
Immigration focus
Onder also said that he would like to be involved with efforts to curtail illegal immigration. During his single term in the Missouri House, Onder sponsored a bill then-Gov. Matt Blunt signed that banned sanctuary cities and trained the Missouri Highway Patrol to enforce immigration laws.
He wants to tighten the asylum process.
“It is not our job as the United States of America to take everyone who doesn't get along with their government,” Onder said. “This world is full of totalitarian regimes, some of which are quite brutal. We cannot take every person from all of those countries.”
Ukraine and Israel aid
One of the other issues that Onder could confront in Congress is whether to continue to provide military aid to Ukraine.
“There's no question that the aggressor, the bad guy, is Vladimir Putin and Russia,” Onder said.
But he also said that the conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and that he supports Trump’s aspirations to negotiate an end to the war if he’s elected.
“Do I want to abruptly cut Ukraine off? No,” Onder said. “But I think it's going to take a strong leader in the White House to negotiate a settlement, and I think that can be done.”
Asked whether Republicans should pressure Israel to purchase most or all of its weaponry it gets from the United States, especially when GOP lawmakers have argued Ukraine aid is a waste of money and energy, Onder replied, “I think perhaps the thing that makes Israel different is that they are really one of the only actual democracies in the Middle East.”
“They need to carry their own weight to the extent that they can afford,” Onder said. “The weaponry that we are capable of selling them, they ought to buy it.”
Abortion impact
Onder will be on the general election ballot with Amendment 3, which would legalize abortion in the state. Some Republicans have said they expect that measure to pass — especially since supporters are vastly outspending opponents.
If that happens, Onder said two factors will contribute to the outcome: the fact that voters can approve constitutional amendments with a simple majority and ballot summary language he said is favorable to Amendment 3 supporters.
“I think if Amendment 3 passes, it will be a combination of really bad structural problems we have here in the state of Missouri,” Onder said.
Still, Onder said the amendment may not be approved. He pointed to 2006, when anti-abortion rights activists nearly defeated a measure enshrining protections for stem cell research.
“I think it will be very close, and I'm hopeful we'll be able to defeat that really horrible law,” he said.
