Missouri — 8th District

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Opposes tariffs and spending cuts

Reichard criticizes recent tariffs and trade disruptions for adding significant annual costs to rural families and agricultural producers in Missouri's 8th District. He opposes DOGE workforce cuts and provisions in the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' that he argues drive up utility, healthcare, and food costs. He advocates for fair trade policies that protect small businesses and working-class families.

• States that tariffs and trade deals add ~$2,400 per year to average family costs and $4,000+ for farming families
• Criticizes DOGE workforce cuts and 'Big, Beautiful Bill' provisions for adding ~$1,500/year in utility, health, and food costs
• Advocates fair trade policies to protect workers, small businesses, and farmers

“Tariffs and soured trade deals added ~$2,400/yr to average family costs (up to $4,000+ for farming families hit by export losses and higher inputs).”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports spending restraint and tax cuts

Smith champions federal budget balancing, spending caps, and tax relief while opposing Democratic tax-and-spending legislation. As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, he voted for the 2025 reconciliation bill (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) and the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 to enforce fiscal restraint.

• Voted Yea on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1) reconciliation bill in July 2025
• Voted Yea on the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 to cap federal spending and raise the debt ceiling
• Exposed budget forecasts with the CBO to oppose Democratic spending packages

“In order to ensure our country doesn’t go the way of Greece, we need drastic changes now.”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports PRO Act and union rights

As a proud member of IBEW Local 1, Reichard places strengthening organized labor at the center of his campaign. He advocates passing the PRO Act to ban union-busting, protect collective bargaining rights, and eliminate legal restrictions on labor unions that have existed since 1947.

• Supports passing the PRO Act to ban union-busting tactics and guarantee fair bargaining
• Pledges to remove restrictions holding back labor unions since 1947
• Promotes union membership as vital for working-class affordability

“When unions are stronger, every American worker benefits.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Promotes free-market working-class policies

Smith positions himself as a champion of the working class who supports workers through tax cuts, deregulation, and economic growth rather than federal labor legislation mandates.

• Promotes pro-growth economic policies, tax relief, and small business support
• Opposes federal mandates and regulatory expansion on private employers

“Champion of the working class, the unborn, veterans, families, & gun owners”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports abolishing ICE and reform

Reichard advocates de-funding and abolishing ICE, calling its tactics brutal and inexcusable. He supports comprehensive immigration reform focused on enforcement mechanisms that respect human rights and due process.

• Pushes to de-fund and abolish ICE due to aggressive enforcement tactics
• Supports immigration reform grounded in constitutional rights and due process

“Push to de-fund and abolish ICE. Immigration reform may be needed, but the brutal tactics performed by ICE are inexcusable.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports strict border enforcement legislation

Smith supports hardline border security measures and strict enforcement against illegal immigration. He voted for the Laken Riley Act, the SAVE Act, and legislation making DUI offenses grounds for deportation or inadmissibility.

• Voted Yea on the Laken Riley Act (S.5) requiring detention of illegal immigrants arrested for burglary or theft
• Voted Yea on H.R.875 making driving while impaired grounds for deportation or inadmissibility
• Voted Yea on the SAVE Act (H.R.22) requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote

“While Harris helped create the southern border disaster as border czar, Walz was busy creating a sanctuary state”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports federal abortion rights

Reichard supports women's rights to bodily autonomy and safe abortion care, arguing healthcare decisions belong to women, their families, and their doctors rather than politicians in Washington.

• Supports access to safe abortion care and reproductive healthcare decisions
• Opposes governmental interference in personal reproductive decisions

“Decisions about women's rights to reproductive health and family belong to women, their doctors, and their families—not politicians in Washington.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Opposes abortion and supports restrictions

Smith maintains a 100% pro-life record, asserting that human life begins at conception. He introduced the Child Tax Credit for Pregnant Moms Act to extend tax credits to unborn children and has earned the endorsement of Missouri Right to Life PAC.

• Introduced the Child Tax Credit for Pregnant Moms Act to provide up to $2,000 in tax savings for unborn children
• Co-sponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
• Endorsed by Missouri Right to Life PAC

“I am 100% pro-life and believe whole-heartedly that life begins at conception.”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports expanding veteran benefits

As a disabled Iraq War veteran, Reichard strongly advocates for expanding benefits for combat-injured veterans, fully funding the VA prior to military action, and reversing VA staffing cuts to decrease care wait times.

• Supports the Major Richard Star Act to eliminate retirement benefit offsets for combat-injured veterans
• Supports the Full Cost of War Act to require upfront authorization of VA care funding before military force is declared
• Pledges to reverse cuts to VA staffing to reduce care backlogs

“As a disabled Iraq War veteran, I know the sacrifice firsthand.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports veterans through appropriations bills

Smith emphasizes his support for veterans through congressional appropriations and votes funding military construction and VA facilities.

• Voted Yea on FY2026 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding (H.R.5371)
• Highlights defense and veteran advocacy as part of his core legislative identity

“Champion of the working class, the unborn, veterans, families, & gun owners”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports Medicare-For-All and Medicaid support

Reichard supports Medicare-For-All or expanded Medicaid support to prevent rural hospital closures and eliminate gaps in emergency care across Missouri's poorest district.

• Supports Medicare-For-All or Medicaid funding to keep rural facilities open
• Focuses on ensuring timely access to emergency healthcare in rural areas

“Secure affordable healthcare access—so when emergencies strike, help is there, not hours away or out of reach due to closures and gaps in rural care”

R Republican Jason Smith

Opposes federal health mandates

Smith opposes federal healthcare expansion and mandates, voting to terminate travel vaccine requirements and national emergency declarations related to COVID-19.

• Voted Yea on H.R.185 to terminate COVID-19 vaccination requirements for foreign travelers
• Voted Yea on H.J.Res.7 to end the national coronavirus state of emergency

“Americans rightfully expect Congress to come together and find solutions”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Opposes tariffs hurting farming families

Reichard argues that recent trade disruptions and tariffs severely damage local agriculture by raising input costs and closing off export markets, costing farming families up to $4,000 annually.

• Highlights that trade shake-ups add over $4,000 per year in costs to farming families
• Pledges to protect rural small businesses and farmers from failed trade policies

“Tariffs and soured trade deals added ~$2,400/yr to average family costs (up to $4,000+ for farming families hit by export losses and higher inputs).”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports agricultural deregulation and trade protection

As a fourth-generation family farm owner near Salem, Smith fights federal overregulation of agriculture and holds endorsements from Missouri's top farming and livestock organizations.

• Fourth-generation owner of his family farm outside Salem, Missouri
• Endorsed by the Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Cattlemen's Association, and Missouri Corn Growers Association
• Opposes federal environmental and agricultural regulations

“Rural America is constantly under attack from the Federal government and I am committed to protecting the rights of those who feed America and the world.”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Opposes policies raising utility costs

Reichard criticizes legislative provisions and workforce slashes that increase utility bills for rural families, pledging to support policies that keep household energy costs down.

• Criticizes legislative provisions that add to higher utility expenses
• Supports relief for working-class families facing rising energy costs

“Add impacts from DOGE workforce slashes and the 'Big Beautiful Bill' provisions, and families face another ~$1,500/year in higher utilities, health, and food costs.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports fossil fuel expansion and deregulation

Smith opposes Green New Deal initiatives and clean energy subsidies, advocating instead for increased domestic oil, natural gas, and coal production to achieve American energy independence.

• Voted Yea on the Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R.1) to boost domestic oil, gas, and coal production
• Voted Yea on the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 to repeal green energy tax credits
• Opposes Green New Deal regulations

“President Trump’s policies led to energy independence and lower gas prices, while under the Green New Deal leadership the Democrats have the U.S. begging for oil from foreign countries”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports ending Citizens United and campaign finance reform

Reichard pledges to overturn Citizens United, eliminate dark money, refuse corporate PAC funding, and restore constitutional checks and balances across the three co-equal branches of government.

• Supports ending Citizens United and banning corporate dark money
• Pledges to restore co-equal checks and balances in government
• Runs a grassroots campaign refusing corporate PAC dollars

“Getting dark money controlled by the millionaires and billionaires, foreign interests groups and corporations will put us back on that path!”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports strict voter ID laws and IRS oversight

Smith focuses oversight efforts on reining in the IRS and ensuring strict voter registration requirements. He voted for the SAVE Act to mandate documentary proof of citizenship for federal voting and supported court injunction limits.

• Voted Yea on the SAVE Act (H.R.22) requiring documentary proof of citizenship for federal election registration
• Voted Yea on the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R.4405)
• Voted Yea on NORRA of 2025 (H.R.1526) to limit federal district court injunction powers
• Opposes expanding IRS tax preparation and financial access authority

“Giving an institution with a history of targeting conservatives and abusing its authority access to the personal financial information of millions of Americans would be letting the fox in the henhouse.”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports constitutional rights balance

Reichard emphasizes protecting constitutional liberties valued by rural Missourians, framing his platform around constitutional protections without endorsing gun control measures in source material.

• Emphasizes defending constitutional rights for rural Missourians
• Focuses on civil liberties and constitutional balance

“In Missouri's 8th District, where rural families value hard work, independence, and constitutional rights, we must fight back.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Opposes gun control and defends gun rights

Smith is a lifetime member of the NRA and a staunch defender of Second Amendment rights, opposing new federal gun restrictions.

• Lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA)
• Opposes new federal gun control restrictions
• Endorsed by pro-gun advocacy organizations

“The right to bear arms is clearly guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution and I am committed to defending those rights as the left ratchets up their attacks.”

D Democratic Christopher Reichard

Supports diplomacy first and ending forever wars

Drawing from his experience serving three tours in Iraq, Reichard supports a diplomacy-first foreign policy and passing the Full Cost of War Act to require VA care funding before military force is declared.

• Advocates for a diplomacy-first foreign policy
• Supports the Full Cost of War Act to account for human and financial costs prior to military action
• Opposes endless foreign military interventions

“As a product of forever wars, I support diplomacy first and foremost.”

R Republican Jason Smith

Supports strong defense and defense funding

Smith supports robust defense spending and military aid for foreign allies, including defense systems for Israel.

• Voted Yea on the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.2670)
• Supports military aid for foreign allies, including Israel's Iron Dome defense system

“America can’t ever turn our backs on our country’s most important ally, Israel.”