The 3rd Congressional District candidate field grows more fertile by the day.
Kurt Schaefer, a former state senator from Columbia, has joined the growing ranks aiming to replace retiring GOP U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth.
“This moment in our country’s history demands not only a conservative fighter, but a conservative winner,†Schaefer said in a statement. “The stakes are too high for more talkers; we need doers ...â€
Schaefer was in the Missouri Senate from 2009 to 2017. In 2016, he lost to Josh Hawley in the Republican primary race for attorney general. A married father of three, Schaefer has worked as a lobbyist and attorney since leaving office.
Schaefer joins three other Republicans in the Aug. 6 primary: state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold; former state Sen. Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis; and truck driver Brandon Wilkinson of Fenton.Â
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Taylor Burks, a former Boone County clerk, has announced he intends to run on the Republican ticket, but has yet to officially file.
Jon Karlen of St. Charles, a Democrat, also has filed as a candidate in the heavily GOP district. In 2022, Karlen lost in the Democrat primary to Bethany Mann.
The retiring Luetkemeyer, who has represented central Missouri in Congress since 2009, announced in early January that he would step down after his current term expires.
The district sprawls across 16 counties, from the Mississippi River to the Lake of the Ozarks. It takes in parts of Jefferson and St. Charles counties in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ metropolitan area.