This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: August 1, 2008 - (This was updated with results.) Around 10:25 p.m., Tuesday, state Rep. Bob Onder conceded the Republican spot in Missouri's 9th district to Blaine Luetkemeyer.
"As you all know by now, the race did not turn out the way we all wanted, and I want to congragulate the winner, Blaine Luetkemeyer," Onder told about 30 supportersat the Holiday Inn in Lake Saint Louis.
“The people of the 9th District have made it clear that the liberal Congress is broken and I vow to fight to fix it by battling for lower taxes, an affordable energy plan, secure borders and affordable and accessible health care,” Leutkemeyer said in a press release. “I am ready to continue my discussion with the people of the 9th District about real ideas and real solutions for our families.”
At 11 p.m., the race for the Democratic nomination was still in contention, with state Rep. Judy Baker leading Steve Gaw, with 18,448 votes (or 41 percent) of the vote to almost 14,787 (or 33 percent of the vote).
Missouri's 9th congressional district may just take the prize as one of the most mixed-up mixed bags. In Tuesday's primary, voters had to choose from a jumble of candidates with backgrounds, experience and issues that seem as varied as the district itself.
The 9th holds conservative suburbs in part of St. Charles County, rural farmland along the borders of Illinois and Iowa and the liberal college town of Columbia.
So no big surprise that voters usually have few issues to coalesce around. This year, however, the economy, the war, rising prices and a general discontent with the current administration seem to be issues everyone's thinking about.
And the nine candidates from both major parties have campaigned hard on them, too.
Wait -- nine candidates?
That's right. Four Democrats and five Republicans want to represent the 9th in Congress.
The seat is hot because it's open -- a rarity in the district, which was represented by Rep. Kenny Hulshof, a Republican, since 1996 and before that by Harold Volkmer, a Democrat, from 1976 until 1996. Hulshof is running for governor, and many Democrats are hoping now is the time to take the district back.
But can they?
In a year that's generically good for Democrats and generically bad for Republicans, they might. In 2004, 59 percent of people in the 9th voted for President George Bush, according to Congressional Quarterly. But the district has a history of independent voters who usually go Republican, rather than hard-core GOP supporters.
That means Democrats have a shot in a primary race that's featured unprecedented one-on-one debates between Bob Onder, a Republican, and Ken Jacob, a Democrat, over abortion; attention (and often mocking) for a former University of Missouri-Columbia football star, Brock Olivo, who fumbled early on; and brought a few people back into politics who've been out for a while, including Jacob, Democrat Steve Gaw and Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer.
Here's a glance at each candidate, where they come from, what matters to them and how much money they've raised as of July 16, according to the Federal Election Commission.
The Republican candidates
Name: Dr. Bob Onder
Home: Lake St. Louis, Mo.
Age: 46
Experience: Representative, Missouri State House of Representatives, 2006 to present; lawyer and physician, owns and operates Allergy and Asthma Consultants.
Major issues: Opposition to abortion, continuing Bush's tax cuts, supports drilling for oil in an environmentally friendly way in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.
Money raised: $469,684, of which $199,434 came from individual donations, $20,250 came from political action committees and $250,000 came from the candidate
For more: www.bobonder.com
Name: Blaine Luetkemeyer
Home: St. Elizabeth
Age: 56
Experience: Missouri House of Representatives, 1998-2004; director of Missouri Division of Tourism, 2006-2008; owns the Luetkemeyer Insurance Agency; family owns and operates the Bank of St. Elizabeth, where Luetkemeyer is a loan officer.
Major issues: Supports environmentally friendly offshore drilling, market-based health care and health savings accounts, securing borders and stopping illegal immigration
Money raised: $466,988, of which $133,488 came from individual donations, $8,500 came from political action committees, and $325,000 came from the candidate.
For more: www.blaineforcongress.com
Name: Rep. Danie Moore
Home: Fulton
Age: 62
Experience: Missouri House of Representatives, 2000 to present; owns Target Masters of Columbia
Major issues: Supports drilling in ANWR and offshore, building nuclear power plants and the development of alternative energy through government incentives.
Money raised: $92,375, of which $88,625 came from individual donations and $3,750 came from political action committees.
For more: https://www.daniemoore.com
Name: Brock Olivo
Home: Hannibal
Age: 32
Experience: Worked for National Italian American Foundation, 1998-2002; running back/special teams player, Detroit Lions, NFL; former University of Missouri-Columbia football player
Major issues: Supports off-shore drilling, federal gas-tax waiver, affordable health care
Money raised: $87,622, of which $25,322 came from individual donations, $2,300 came from political action committees and $60,000 came from the candidate
For more: www.brockolivo.com/olivoforcongress
Name: Dan Bishir
Home: St. Peters
Age: 55
Experience: retired building inspector and plans examiner for the city of St. Peters
Major issues: Securing borders, drilling for oil in new areas and exploring alternative energy sources.
Money raised: $0
For more: www.danbishirforusrep.net
The Democratic candidates
Name: Rep. Judy Baker
Home: Columbia
Age: 48
Experience: Missouri House of Representatives, 2004 to present; adjunct professor of managerial economics at Columbia College; health-care consultant and managing partner at Cura Advantage
Major issues: Want to increase access to health care through public-private partnerships; supports funding for schools and the development of alternative and renewable energy sources.
Money raised: $404,672, of which $355,747 came from individual donations, $38,925 came from political action committees and $10,000 came from the candidate.
For more: judybakerforcongress.com
Name: Steve Gaw
Home: Moberly
Age: 51
Experience: Representative, Missouri State House of Representatives, 1992-2001; speaker of the House, 1996-2001; Missouri Public Service Commission, 2001-2007
Major issues: Supports off-shore drilling at the discretion of coastal states, ending the war in Iraq, balancing the budget.
Money raised: $217,750, all from individual donors
For more: gawforcongress.com
Name: Ken Jacob
Home: Columbia
Age: 59
Experience: Representative, Missouri State House of Representatives, 1982-1996; senator, Missouri Senate, 1996-2004; currently serves as general counsel for state Auditor Susan Montee
Major issues: Supports increasng access to and funding for higher education, creating green-collar jobs.
Money raised: $105,370, of which $55,370 came from individual donations and $50,000 came from the candidate.
For more: kenjacobcongress.com
Name: Lyndon Bode
Home: Palmyra
Age: 44
Experience: Marion County presiding commissioner, 1994-present
Major issues: Road and bridge maintenance and repair, use of ethanol and soy-diesel, pro-life
Money raised: $120,383, of which $39,249 is from political action committees, $1,000 is from political action committees and $80,115 is from the candidate.
For more:lyndonbodeforcongress.com
Kristen Hare is a freelance writer in Lake St. Louis.