The three-way primary race in the 1st Congressional District is not the only U.S. House contest that almost certainly will pick the general election winner during the August primary.
As with the heavily Democratic area of Ƶ city and county represented by U.S Rep. Cori Bush of Ƶ, the 3rd Congressional District leans hard toward the GOP.
And there are no less than eight Republicans vying to fill the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of St. Elizabeth.
Of the eight hopefuls, only three raised enough money to be required to file campaign reports Monday with the Federal Election Commission.
As of March 31, the leading money-raiser is former state Sen. Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis, who has taken in slightly more than $700,000, a total that includes a $500,000 loan he made to his own campaign.
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His report shows that he has spent about $7,000, which leaves him with about $693,000 in his coffers.
In second place in the money race is former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia, who has received about $118,000 in contributions and also has spent about $7,000, leaving him with roughly $111,000 cash on hand.
Third on the list is state Rep. Justin Hicks of Lake Saint Louis, who has taken in about $45,000 and spent about $3,500. His campaign reports having slightly less than $42,000 available.
The other five candidates are Chadwick Bicknell, Kyle Bone, Bruce Bowman, Arnie Dienoff and Brandon Wilkinson.
The 3rd District spans from areas in St. Charles County all the way west to near the Lake of the Ozarks and is heavily Republican, meaning that the winner of the primary on Aug. 6 is likely to also win the November general election.
And in the 2nd Congressional District — which covers a large part of south and west Ƶ County — incumbent Republican U.S. Rep Ann Wagner of Town and Country raised more than $2.55 million in the first quarter of 2024, her campaign report states. She also reports having more than $2.8 million cash on hand.
Peter Pfeifer of Town and Country also is a candidate in the GOP primary.
Well-known newspaper and television commentator Ray Hartmann, who is running in the district’s Democratic primary, reported raising slightly more than $23,000 and still has about $20,000 on hand.
Chuck Summers of south Ƶ County also is a candidate in the Democratic primary.
Wagner and Hartmann were the only two candidates to report any campaign-finance activity.