Rick Brattin wins Republican primary for Missouri seat redrawn to favor GOP, will face longtime House Democrat

Trump-endorsed state lawmaker Rick Brattin has won the Republican nomination for Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, CBS News projects, setting up a battle against an 11-term Democrat in a district that was made dramatically more GOP-leaning last year.

Brattin defeated a crowded field of GOP primary candidates Tuesday. Incumbent Rep. Emanuel Cleaver ran for the Democratic nomination unopposed.

A Marine veteran, Brattin was elected to the Missouri state Senate in 2020, after serving in the state House of Representatives. President Trump offered his endorsement Monday, calling Brattin a “MAGA Warrior,” and he was backed by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe. 

The seat previously covered a deep-blue area surrounding Kansas City, but it was transformed during last year’s nationwide redistricting scramble, which led state lawmakers to split up the state’s second-largest metro area between three different districts. The 5th District now juts over 150 miles from Kansas City into Central Missouri, and its electorate is just 41% Democratic, down from 62% Democratic under its old borders, according to a CBS News analysis.

Brattin — a native of the Kansas City area — lives just outside the redrawn district, but he represents part of it in the state legislature, The Kansas City Star reported last month.

If Brattin succeeds in flipping the 5th District, which most national analysts now view as safely GOP-leaning, it could aid Republicans’ efforts to hold onto their narrow House majority in what is widely expected to be a challenging midterm election for the party.

It would also oust Cleaver, a former Kansas City mayor who has represented the area in the House since 2005. Missouri Republicans have considered splitting up Kansas City to squeeze out Cleaver for years, as the state has grown increasingly red. 

The state legislature passed new congressional maps last fall, in a rare mid-decade redistricting push shortly after Texas Republicans shifted five of their districts rightward at Mr. Trump’s urging, and California Democrats responded by shifting five districts to the left. Missouri now has one Democratic-leaning district in the St. Louis area and seven GOP-leaning districts.

The gambit has drawn lawsuits from opponents who argue the new districts are not compact and violate the state constitution, but the Missouri Supreme Court has left the map in place.