Bob Onder (R) won the Republican primary for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District

Bob Onder (R) won the Republican primary for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District on August 6, 2024.

Seven candidates ran in the election. Two led in media attention, endorsements, and fundraising: Onder and Kurt Schaefer (R).

Incumbent Blaine Luetkemeyer (R) did not run for re-election. Luetkemeyer was first elected to the U.S. House in 2008 and to Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District in 2012.

Former President Donald Trump (R) and U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) endorsed Onder. Leutkemeyer endorsed Schaefer. According to St. Louis Public Radio, the endorsements represented “a test on whether a national leader’s backing is more valuable than a longtime local one.”

As of July 14, 2024, four major election forecasters rated the general election Solid/Safe Republican.

Onder was a physician and attorney at the time of the election. He previously served in the Missouri Senate from 2015 to 2023 and in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2007 to 2008. Onder ran against Luetkemeyer in 2008, when Leutkemeyer defeated him in the Republican primary for Missouri’s 9th Congressional District. Onder said he disapproved of the Biden administration’s immigration policies and that he sponsored “the strongest state law in the country to fight illegal immigration.” Onder said he was pro-life and that he authored legislation which stated abortions could not be performed in Missouri “if the fetal heartbeat of the unborn child has been detected.” Onder said he would join the House Freedom Caucus if elected.

Schaefer was an attorney at the time of the election who previously worked as the general counsel for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. He previously served in the Missouri Senate from 2009 to 2017. Schaefer said he would work to eliminate illegal immigration and said the Biden administration’s immigration policies “created a gateway for drugs and criminal activities to inundate our Southern Border.” Schaefer said his time as Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee chair gave him the experience to decrease federal spending, saying he “reformed Missouri’s welfare system [and] forced new accountability measures on Missouri’s bloated and out-of-control Medicaid program.” Schaefer said he supports Trump’s policies and that “No one will be a bigger champion for President Trump’s conservative agenda.”

Also running in the primary were Chadwick Bicknell (R), Kyle Bone (R), Bruce Bowman (R), Arnie Dienoff (R), and Justin Hicks (R).