To win Hartzler’s seat, Missouri Republican candidates try to appeal to military voters

In the crowded Republican primary to succeed Rep. Vicky Hartzler in the U.S. House, no issue appears to be more vital for candidates than gaining the support of the district’s strong military electorate.

The 4th Congressional District is home to Missouri’s two largest military bases — Whiteman Air Force Base in Johnson County and the U.S. Army’s Fort Leonard Wood in the Ozarks. Those bases — and the military populations they house — could be the deciding factor in who voters will send to Congress.

The Republican primary race for Missouri’s 4th District includes state Sen. Rick Brattin, cattle farmer Kalena Bruce, former Fox 4 anchor Mark Alford, former Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks, former St. Louis Blues player Jim Campbell, retired police officer William Irwin and entrepreneur Kyle LaBrue.

The competing candidates have made appeals to the district’s large farming base and other key constituencies, like anti-abortion advocates, but the military vote could be key in deciding the primary. Candidates have used rhetoric about strong national security and touted their military backgrounds to win over these voters.

Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leonard Wood — home to roughly 4,400 and 5,400 active duty members respectively — aren’t just important institutions for the military. The shops and restaurants in surrounding communities like Waynesville and Warrensburg rely on the bases’ military populations for financial support.

The backing from members of the military, veterans and their families has kept Hartzler in office for more than a decade. Hartzler, who is giving up the seat to run for U.S. Senate, serves on the powerful House Armed Services Committee in Congress. In Congress, she has consistently introduced legislation with military members and supporters in mind. Her potential successors will need to appeal to that wide range of military values to win the primary.

“There’s just a lot of patriots in our district that care about our national security,” Hartzler told The Star. “And it’s important that they have representation here in Congress, someone who feels just as passionately about it.”

When lawmakers in the Missouri General Assembly approved the state’s congressional district boundaries last month, they scrapped a plan that would have split the military bases into two different districts. Opponents of the split argued the bases needed to be kept together to increase the likelihood that Hartzler’s successor would serve on the House Armed Services Committee.

The committee, which is responsible for funding the U.S. Department of Defense, is one of the most sought after groups in Congress with a waiting list of more than 30 representatives, said state Rep. Mike Haffner, a Pleasant Hill Republican who was an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Referring to Hartzler’s lack of military experience, Haffner said simply having a military background will not be enough to sway voters in the 4th District. Candidates will have to show strong stances on national security and foreign relations, he said.

Hartzler “obviously didn’t have any combat experience, and she’s done incredibly well understanding the military presence, the impact not only on [the 4th District], but also in the state of Missouri,” he said.

The two military bases are the main economic drivers for communities in the 4th Congressional District, said Johnson County Republican Party Chair Brandon Phelps.

“The residents of the 4th Congressional District take pride in those bases being part of the community,” he said. “They’re going to be looking for a candidate that will continue to protect those bases and the funding for those bases.

“It’s all about strong military and secure borders and ongoing funding for the bases.”

Of the seven candidates, three have served in the military. Burks served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Brattin was in the U.S. Marine Corps. And Irwin has centered his campaign around his background as a retired Navy SEAL.

While military experience alone might not win the seat, state Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Warrensburg Republican who has advocated for Missouri’s two military bases to be kept within the 4th District, said it was the No. 1 way candidates could appeal to voters.

“Either you’re currently in the military or you’re a veteran so you know the importance of the military in Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leonard Wood and you can relate and understand the lingo and the concerns and you’ve been in their shoes,” he said.

At a recent Republican candidate forum in Warrensburg, roughly 11 miles away from Whiteman Air Force Base, Burks, Bruce, Alford and Brattin answered an array of questions related to gun control, abortion and COVID-19. The forum was largely civil as the Republicans touted similar conservative refrains about protecting the unborn and preventing government mask mandates.

But, in their closing remarks, Burks and Bruce — viewed as two potential front-runners in the tight race — jumped at the chance to tout their views on the military in attempts to set themselves apart from the rest of the candidates in the room.

“Tragically, we didn’t get a single question tonight about the biggest issue facing our country: our national security,” Burks said, referring to his concerns about China and Russia. He said he was the only candidate in the room who served in combat overseas three times.

He said he loved talking about his farming background and his plans to fix the country’s supply chain issues, but “more important than all of that are the military families and the veteran communities here in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District who for 48 years have not had a congress person who served in uniform alongside them.”

“We are the only district in the state of Missouri that has two military installations,” he said. “So a veteran representing this district who’s been to those installations not as a politician, but as a service member, that’s what I offer this district.”

When Bruce took the microphone, she spoke about her plans to curb inflation and her background as a fifth-generation cattle farmer.

But, she said, the best representative for the 4th District would be someone who “understands the importance of the Air Force base and Fort Leonard Wood and the economic impact that it brings to this district and the military strength that it brings to this district.”

The Star’s Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.