When Republican lawmakers set out to redraw Missouri’s congressional maps last year, they aimed to carve a new GOP-leaning district out of the one currently held by Kansas City U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.
Six Republicans have since filed for the Aug. 4 primary election, aiming to challenge Cleaver and secure another Republican seat in the U.S. House.
But only one of those candidates actually lives within the boundaries of the new 5th District, according to Kansas City Star reporter Jack Harvel. Brad Patty — a resident of Fayette, a town northwest of Columbia — is the only candidate currently residing in the district.
Candidates Brett Hueffmeier, Taylor Burks, state Sen. Rick Brattin, Berton A. Knox and Micah Beebe all live outside the lines.
To serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, candidates must live in the state they’re representing, but don’t have to live in the district itself. Attempts to require that representatives live in-district have been rejected by courts.
While the 5th District previously included most of Kansas City, plus parts of Clay and eastern Jackson counties, it now reaches east across 14 other counties to Columbia in mid-Missouri. Residents of Kansas City are now divided among three different districts, in an effort to weaken Democratic voting power.
However, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected assertions that the map was not sufficiently compact under constitutional standards.
It’s not an uncommon occurrence for candidates to live outside of the place they seek to represent, and sometimes the candidates move once they’re elected. But it can be a political liability, Harvel said.
“If you go back to 2022, Mark Alford didn't live in the 4th (District) that year, and there were some concerns then, some calls to drop out,” Harvel told KCUR’s Up To Date. “But Mark Alford ultimately prevailed and moved into the 4th (District) after he won.”
The winner of the August primary will run against Cleaver in the November general election. The Cook Political Report projects that Missouri’s redrawn 5th District leans Republican by 9 points.
- Jack Harvel, Missouri Politics Insider for the Kansas City Star
