The Greene County ballot for Missouri's August primary is packed. Here's what to know.

When Missourians head to polling places on Aug. 2 for 2022's primary, the goal will be to narrow down crowded fields of hopefuls to the party nominees who will face off in the November general election.

This year's ballot is jam-packed, especially in southwest Missouri, with large numbers of candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S. House on both sides of the aisle.

Here are the candidates you can expect to see when you go to cast your vote in Greene County in contested races, with a bit of what you need to know about them. Candidates are listed in the order they will appear on the ballot. Click on the candidate's name to go to their campaign website. To view the full ballot as it will appear when you vote, click here.

U.S. Senate

Democrats

• Lewis Rolen: A former middle school teacher who works at Washington University in St. Louis. Calls himself a "regular working-class guy" who "won't be bought and promises to work for the people."

• Gena Ross: A former staffer for U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and a community college instructor. Touts herself as "unbought, unbossed and unbiased" and previously mounted an unsuccessful campaign against U.S. Rep. Sam Graves in northern Missouri.

• Carla Coffee Wright: A child care facility director and community organizer. She has centered her platform on "equality and social justice" and ran an unsuccessful primary challenge to McCaskill in 2018.

• Josh Shipp: A St. Louisan focused on criminal justice reform, health care and science.

• Spencer Toder: An entrepreneur from St. Louis. He has focused his campaign on connecting voters to government services like Medicaid and supporting local state candidates.

• Lucas Kunce: A Marine veteran who grew up in mid-Missouri. Calling himself a populist, he has advocated against corporate monopolies and called for a ban on stock trading for members of Congress.

• Jewel Kelly: An Air Force veteran and small business owner. He has put a focus on mental health and empathy, and started the Fighting Chance Foundation to support mental health and suicide awareness.

• Clarence (Clay) Taylor: A California native who moved to St. Louis in 1989 and has lobbied in Washington.

• Pat Kelly: An environmental engineer and patent attorney, focused on the climate crisis and reducing political polarization.

• Trudy Busch Valentine: An heiress to the Anheuser-Busch beer family fortune. She has emphasized her background as a nurse and is pledging to "put politics aside" in an effort to "strengthen the middle class."

• Ronald (Ron) William Harris: An Air Force veteran and truck driver from Kansas City. He has run several campaigns for state House, Congress and school board dating back to the 1990s.

More: Flooding the airwaves: Missouri primary candidates launch TV ads in chaotic election year

Republicans

• Patrick A. Lewis: A laborer from Wellsville who has focused on supporting unions

• Eric Schmitt: Missouri's attorney general. He has emphasized his frequent litigation with the Biden administration and school districts on COVID-19 guidelines and transparency.

• Billy Long: Auctioneer and U.S. representative for the southwest 7th district. He has promised to oppose the Biden administration and views himself as a reliable conservative to keep the seat in Republican control.

• Eric Greitens: The former Missouri governor who resigned amid scandal in 2018. He has opposed Republican leaders in Washington and touted debunked conspiracy theories about the election while confronted with new claims of abuse in court from his ex-wife.

• Bernie Mowinski: An Air Force veteran who has previously run for U.S. Senate against Roy Blunt in 2016 and U.S. House against Vicky Hartzler in 2012.

• C.W. Gardner: A doorman from St. Louis who has poked fun at his higher-profile opponents on social media while proposing using revenue from marijuana sales to fill potholes.

• Deshon Porter: A St. Louisan who says he is "fighting for the little guy."

• Vicky Hartzler: U.S. representative for the central-west 4th district. She has opposed the Biden administration with the backing of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and has focused on social issues such as banning transgender student-athletes.

• Dave Sims: A former government employee and radio host who has focused on increasing resources for police departments.

• Mark McCloskey: A St. Louis attorney who made national headlines after he pointed a rifle at protesters outside his home in 2020.

• Eric McElroy: A comedian and author from Tunas.

• Dennis Lee Chilton

• Robert Allen

• Dave Schatz: President pro tempore of the state Senate and business owner from Sullivan. Touting himself as a "Reagan Republican," he says he wants to focus on "fixing problems" over "fixing blame."

• Hartford Tunnell

• Kevin C. Schepers

• Rickey Joiner: A barber who believes a blue-collar worker should be sent to Washington.

• Robert Olson

• Russel Pealer Breyfogle Jr

• Darrell Leon McClanahan III

• Curtis D. Vaughn: A Springfield valet who has criticized opponents' stances on the war in Ukraine and his exclusion from Republican party events.

More: Missouri's Republican U.S. Senate candidates set to debate in Springfield this week

U.S. House

Democrats

• John M. Woodman: A former Christian missionary and tech support business owner who left the GOP and has focused on improving health care, education and the climate.

• Kristen Radaker-Sheafer: An Oklahoma native who owns a bakery in Joplin. She has honed in on making government more accessible, helping small businesses and a local focus in Washington.

• Bryce F. Lockwood: A Strafford military veteran.

Republicans

• Jay Wasson: A former state senator and home builder from Nixa. He has touted his experience in Jefferson City in his bid to oppose Democrats in Washington through a "contract with the Ozarks" spanning immigration, spending and other areas.

• Eric Burlison: A state senator and tax consultant from Battlefield who has been a member of the Conservative Caucus, pushing the party to adopt more right-wing measures such as the 2021 law nullifying federal arm statutes.

• Audrey Richards: A Joplin nonprofit consultant and former government employee. Richards supports a progressive platform under the Republican banner and has previously run as an independent write-in candidate.

• Camille Lombardi-Olive: A Galena resident who has twice run for the seat, once as a Democrat and once as a Republican.

• Sam Alexander: An emergency physician who ran against Gov. Mike Parson for a Bolivar state House seat. He has served on the governor's advisory board for the state's Medicaid program and said he has at times advised him on medical issues.

• Alex Bryant: A conservative pastor who has criticized "radical secularists" and argued that it's time to fight back against an "outright attack on our conservative family values."

• Paul Walker: A retired Army colonel, political science instructor and author. He says he is fighting the "woke left" and supports policies touted by former President Donald Trump.

• Mike Moon: A state senator from Ash Grove who is also part of the Conservative Caucus, and has been a vocal proponent of banning vaccine requirements and transgender student-athletes, among other social issues, while pledging to "save our Judeo-Christian values."

More: John F. Wood, lawyer who left Jan. 6 panel, seeking Missouri US Senate seat

State Auditor

Democrat

• Alan Green: A former state representative and county advisor from St. Louis County. He has pledged to be a "watchdog" for taxpayer dollars, retain current office staff  and educate the public on the role of the auditor.

Republicans

• David Gregory: A state representative, attorney and accountant from St. Louis County. He has touted a legislative investigation he led of the Department of Revenue.

• Scott Fitzpatrick: State treasurer from southwest Missouri and former state representative who chaired the House budget committee. He has pledged to "continue to serve with the same conservative values."

More: Who's running for U.S. Senate, House in Missouri? Candidates file to run in 2022 elections

State Senator, District 30 (Springfield)

Democrat

• Raymond Lampert: An attorney who previously challenged Rep. John Black in the House. He is focused on "well-funded education" and "protections for working-class people."

Republicans

• Angela Romine: A former city councilwoman who has spoken against the COVID-19 vaccine and criticized her opponent for not being conservative enough. She is touting herself as "Springfield's conservative voice in Jefferson City."

• Lincoln Hough: The incumbent state senator who has previously served in the House and on the Greene County Commission. He is focusing on his record in the Capitol as vice chair of the Senate budget committee.

State Senator, District 20

Republicans

• Curtis Trent: A state representative in Springfield and former staffer for U.S. Rep. Billy Long. Trent is pointing to his six years in Jefferson City, including as chair of the House general laws committee, in a bid to jump to the upper chamber, where he's pledging to "protect life from womb to tomb."

• Brian Gelner: An owner and executive of a beverage distribution company, Gelner is touting himself as a "citizen legislator" and wants to bring his business acumen to the Capitol. He has frequently criticized "career politicians" who "keep kicking the can down the road."

More: Trudy Busch Valentine, heiress to beer giant, running for Senate as Democrat; Sifton drops out

State Representative, District 137 (east Greene County)

Republicans

• Thomas R. (Tom) Barr: The Greene County Circuit Clerk. He is campaigning on streamlining state government and advocating for local interests.

• Darin Chappell: A U.S. Navy and Army Reserves veteran and "constitution and foundational documents advocate." He has pledged to "return power to the people."

Uncontested primaries

Races for state representative, presiding county commissioner, county clerk, circuit court clerk, recorder of deeds, prosecuting attorney, collector of revenue and county auditor are uncontested on the August ballot, with only a single candidate in each race.

Look for more reporting from the News-Leader after the primary election this fall for details on those candidates and races.

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Who's on the ballot for Missouri's August primary in Greene County?