If Republican Rick Brattin has his way, he will trade in his state Senate seat to represent the 4th Congressional District in the upcoming 2022 election.
But experts say securing the U.S. Representative position will not be an easy task.
“He’s leaving a state Senate seat and taking a risk,” said Professor Kenneth Warren, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Political Science at Saint Louis University. “It is quite a risk because that field is really being filled. There are five candidates already in the race and more people saying they will announce and file to run.”
The current 4th Congressional District representative, Republican Vicky Hartzler, is vacating the seat to seek the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
“Certainly, being a U.S. Senator is more prestigious on the hierarchical pyramid of political offices than a U.S. Rep,” Warren told the St. Louis Record. “There are only a hundred senators and you've got 435 U.S. Reps. So, it’s what you do. She's leaving her seat to run for Senate. You can't run for both because that's the law. Not in all states but in Missouri you can’t run for two federal offices at the same time.”
Brattin is the fifth candidate to toss his hat into the GOP primary ring to represent the 4th Congressional District.
“With a U.S. Rep seat, you can't be termed out,” Warren said. “It's unconstitutional. It would take a constitutional amendment to put a term limit on U.S. Reps. So, that’s why they serve for decades and decades and decades.”
Other candidates include Republican state Rep. Sara Walsh, former Republican Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks, Kalena Bruce, and former Kansas City news anchor Mark Alford.
“Kaleena Bruce is a cattle farmer and then there's the long-time TV anchor and they usually don't do very well when they run,” Warren said. “They think they're so well-known but people don't usually give them much credibility as politicians without any political experiences. The three that have credibility are Bratton, Burks, and Walsh.”
As previously reported, among Brattin’s talking points includes being against the infrastructure bill that Congress recently approved, though he is in favor of bringing millions of dollars into the state of Missouri to improve roads and bridges.
“Politics have become so polarized that Republicans have become radical and they think they must be overly radical in order to win and get followers,” Warren said. “The kinds of things he's saying, to me, are not traditional.”
Democrat Jeff Leathers is also campaigning, according to media reports.
“It’s a heavily Republican district,” Warren added. “On occasion, you'll see that in a safely Democratic district, there are no Republicans who file or only token people file and the same is true in Republican districts but the filings haven't even occurred yet because it's so early. Key candidates have just announced.”