Five U.S. House incumbents are in contested primaries in Missouri this year—tying with 2018 and 2014 for the fewest this decade

This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Missouri was March 26, 2024.

Forty-three candidates are running for Missouri’s eight U.S. House districts, including 16 Democrats and 27 Republicans. That’s an average of 5.38 candidates per district. That’s lower than the 7.13 candidates per district in 2022 but more than the 5.00 in 2020.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

• The 3rd Congressional District is the only open district. That’s one less than in 2022 when two seats were open. There were no open seats in 2020, 2018, 2016, and 2014.
• Incumbent Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-03) is not running for re-election because he is retiring from public office.
• Two congressional districts—the 1st and the 3rd—are tied for the most candidates running in a district this year. Four Democrats and five Republicans are running in the 1st Congressional District, and two Democrats and seven Republicans are running in the 3rd Congressional District.
• Twelve primaries—six Democratic and six Republican—are contested this year. Between 2022 and 2014, there was an average of 11.6 contested primaries per year.
• Five incumbents—one Democrat and four Republicans—are in contested primaries this year, tying with 2018 and 2014 for the fewest this decade.

• Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all eight districts, meaning no seats are guaranteed to either party.

Missouri and three other states—Kansas, Michigan, and Washington—are holding primary elections on August 6, 2024.

In Missouri, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if they do not win an outright majority of votes cast.