Incumbent 8th District congressman faces two challengers

Missouri’s 8th Congressional District voters will choose from among three candidates — Republican incumbent Jason Smith, Democrat Kathy Ellis and Libertarian Tom Schmitz.

Rep. Smith, a native of Salem, Missouri, has held the seat since June 4, 2013, when he was elected to finish former congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson’s term following her resignation. He went on to win reelection in 2014, 2016 and 2018. In the 2018 election, Smith defeated his current Democratic challenger, Ellis, in a landslide, winning 73.7% of the vote.

Jason Smith

Jason Smith

Smith — who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, the Missouri Farm Bureau, the Missouri Right to Life committee and the National Right to Life committee, among other organizations — says he is focused on rolling back national government regulations in Missouri, limiting government involvement in health care options, reducing taxes, supporting farmers, supporting military veterans and active military members and ensuring the national government doesn’t restrict natural resources in the State of Missouri.

“Without a doubt, one of my greatest joys, and the most important issues I work on as the representative, has been helping the folks of our area get what they’re owed out of their government,” Smith said. “Making sure the citizens of southern Missouri are looked out for and not overlooked by the government definitely remains the main priority of mine.

“My home is here in Southeast Missouri, and it has been my family’s home for seven generations. I look forward to continuing to fight on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of southern Missourians who wake up every day just wanting to do what’s right for their family, for God and for their future.”

According to the Federal Election Commission, Smith has received a total of $1,651,413.04 for this election, including $427,198.09 coming from individual contributions, $50 coming from party committee contributions and $1,224,164.95 coming from other committee contributions, including $5,000 from the Koch Industries Inc. Political Action Committee, Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. PAC and the Charter Communications Inc. PAC, among others.

“You just fundraise constantly,” Smith said. “I’ve been fundraising for seven-and-a-half years.

“I’m a conservative. I don’t spend money unless we need to spend it. I just make sure that it’s there for any battle that’s ahead.”

Smith’s Democratic challenger Ellis, who lives in Festus, Missouri, ran against the incumbent in 2018, receiving 24% of the vote.

Kathy Ellis

Kathy Ellis

Ellis — a licensed clinical social worker and addictions counselor — says she supports strong public and debt-free education, strong union jobs, investing in rural infrastructure, protecting the environment by supporting new policies including the Green New Deal, ending Citizens United, LGBTQ+ rights to inclusive and comprehensive health care access, and opposes legislation that would weaken the Roe v. Wade ruling. Ellis’ main issue she is focused on in this election is health care.

“We’re just really, very concerned about the lack of health care in the district,” Ellis said. “As you may be well aware, we’ve lost a number of hospitals over the past few years without any real attempts to begin to solve that problem.

“Wherever I’ve gone, that has always been the No. 1 issue, that we can have some accessible and affordable health care, and certainly have reduced prices in some of the prescription drugs that are available.”

Ellis has raised $287,246.10 in total contributions, according to the FEC. Of the contributions Ellis has received, $272,276.10 has come from individual contributions, $600 from party committee contributions, $1,817.41 from candidate contributions and $12,398 from other committee contributions, which includes a $5,000 donation from the UAW Voluntary Community Action Program. Ellis openly refuses donations from political action committees (PACs).

“We don’t want to accept any dark money,” Ellis said. “We don’t want to accept anything other than those kinds of things that come directly from the people in the district.

“And people from outside. Quite frankly, we’ve had people who have been donating to us from all over the country.”

Tom Schmitz

Tom Schmitz

Libertarian candidate Schmitz works for the Missouri Public Defender’s Office in Rolla, Missouri, where he resides.

Schmitz is also heavily focused on health care. In contrast to his Democratic opponent, however, Schmitz believes in separating health care and state, which means limiting government involvement.

“I believe we are near a tipping point,” Schmitz said. “I think that, especially with the mainstream discussion about pre-existing conditions, I think we are absolutely nearing a tipping point, or are at the tipping point, toward what I believe will be the inevitable, that the government will take total control of the health care system.

“Looking at health care, it’s an issue that’s important to everyone, and the solutions that we are hearing from the two main parties are more government, more government, more government. ... Government is the problem in health care, and the two big parties are telling us that more government is the solution to the problem.”

Schmitz’s supports a foreign policy of peace, strength and non-interventionism, and wants to bring the troops home from overseas. He’s also focused on minimizing taxation, abolishing a minimum wage, cutting spending across the board by percentage to tackle the national debt, transitioning to a privatized education system, protecting Americans’ right to keep and bear arms, decriminalizing drug use and decriminalizing sex work.

Financially, Schmitz has refused any fundraising and is 100% self-funding his entire campaign.

“I have had some donors come forward and want to give me money,” Schmitz said, “and I am not taking donations.

“For this campaign, we made the decision that any money that would be spent would be my money. I wouldn’t spend any party money if party money was given to me. I wouldn’t take any donations. It would be my money for this campaign.”

For more information about each candidate visit www.jasonsmith.house.gov, www.ellisforcongress.com and www.tomschmitzforliberty.com.

For more information about each candidates’ fundraising visit www.fec.gov.