Missouri's 8th District heats up: Smith, Snider and Heithold battle for GOP nomination

Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Smith seeks re-election for his sixth two-year term in Congress but must overcome two challengers in the Tuesday, Aug. 6, primary election.

James Snider of Hillsboro and Grant Heithold of Licking look to unseat Smith, who has defeated all challengers since being elected to Congress in a 2013 special election.

Smith currently serves as the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means which oversees federal tax policy, U.S. trade and tariffs, Social Security, Medicare and welfare programs. During his time on the committee, Smith has passed “pro-worker, pro-family, pro-small business tax relief; trade agreements that expand opportunities for small businesses and farmers; legislation that expands access and lowers the cost of healthcare for working families; and legislation to recover fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance”, according to his U.S. House of Representatives biography.

Smith has opposed federal legalization of same-sex marriage, restrictions on debt collection activities and abortion, and is an outspoken proponent of gun rights. He has been highly critical of President Joe Biden, recently calling for him to resign from office after stepping down as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election.

“What we saw over the weekend when the Democrat elitists froze (Biden) out of office to not have him run for reelection tells us one thing, they got rid of him for political reasons, not medical reasons,” Smith said in an interview with Fox Business on July 23. “The Joe Biden that we see today is the same Joe Biden that was in the basement 3 1/2 years ago during the last campaign.”

Snider, who is running for public office for the first time, has been critical of Smith’s tenure in Congress. He is running as a pro-life, pro-family and pro-Second Amendment candidate, and told the Jefferson County Leader in January that he doesn’t believe Smith has “done a good job representing District 8 and upholding true conservative values.”

“Money won’t decide the nomination; the voters of District 8 will truly decide,” Snider said in a Jan. 29 article from the Leader. “I feel that many of them, like me, have grown disenchanted with the leadership that Jason Smith has given us. I don’t think he’s proven that he can represent the true conservative GOP side.”

Heithold is running on a platform supporting Second Amendment rights, pro-life legislation, transparency in education, securing the border and overhauling elections by removing voting machines, ending mail-in ballots and making election day a one-day holiday.

“This nation has been blessed by hard-working people that have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy,” Heithold’s campaign website states. “I believe the majority of our Republican Representatives in Congress are out of touch with the people they are supposed to be representing. They are out of touch and we're out of time! Some people say it's too late, but I am still optimistic that this can be turned around.”