Missouri state senator enters GOP primary to succeed Vicky Hartzler in Congress
Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin on Monday jumped into the race to replace Rep. Vicky Hartzler in Congress next year, joining a crowded Republican primary and vowing to push back on federal spending.
Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, represents several counties in western Missouri including Cass County. He is a member of the state Senate’s “conservative caucus,” a group of hard-right lawmakers who have often clashed with Republican leadership on issues like taxes and anti-abortion measures.
Most recently, Brattin and other members of the caucus unsuccessfully pushed Senate leaders and Gov. Mike Parson for a special legislative session to block federal COVID-19 vaccination rules.
“I really truly feel that we’re at the Alamo stage between liberty and freedom or tyranny and socialism and [a] communism takeover in America,” he said, flanked by family and friends at a small Columbia campaign announcement.
Brattin also claims Joe Biden was not legally elected.
Hartzler is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Roy Blunt.
The primary for the 4th Congressional District seat is likely to be a race to the right. Others running include state Rep. Sara Walsh of Ashland, former Boone County clerk Taylor Burks, cattle farmer Kalena Bruce and Former Fox 4 anchor Mark Alford.
Another candidate, former state Sen. Ed Emery, died in August. Ryan Johnson, a Cass County commissioner who was running, ended his candidacy in September. Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, was mulling a campaign but announced last week that he would remain in the state Senate.
The 4th District stretches from the southern edge of Kansas City in Cass County to central Missouri.
Brattin is a construction company owner and a former Cass County auditor and U.S. Marine Corps member. He was elected to the state Senate in 2018 after serving eight years in the Missouri House
On Monday he blamed federal spending under Biden for inflation, saying he would not vote for measures such as the recently-passed infrastructure bill. All but one of Missouri’s House delegation, Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, voted against it.
“There’s so much negative stuff in these bills that in no way, shape or form could I ever support it,” Brattin said. “Not to mention the amount of money coming from the CARES Act ... it had an influx of all this spending that’s continuing to decrease the value of our dollar.”
As part of the infrastructure bill, Missouri is in line to receive $6.5 billion for roads and $484 million for bridges over the next five years, as well as $100 million to expand broadband access.
In response to a reporter’s question, Brattin also repeated the false claim that Biden’s 2020 election victory was fueled by fraudulent mail-in votes.
“I don’t believe Joe Biden did win,” he said. “Our elections were always meant to be in person. Due to the corona pandemic, we were able to exploit all these loosening of laws ... So I do believe that Trump did win the election.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 1:22 PM.