All U.S. House district seats, including the 7th Congressional District of Missouri (which includes Greene County), are up for a vote during the Nov. 5 general election. In the Springfield area, voters will weigh in on the seat currently held by Rep. Eric Burlison, who is running for reelection. The primary election, in which Burlison faces three Republican challengers as well as opponents from other parties, is set for Aug. 6.
Here are the 7th District candidates who will appear on southwest Missouri ballots in the primary:
Eric Burlison (R)
Website: https://www.ericburlisonforcongress.com/
Who is he? Rep. Eric Burlison is a sixth-generation Missourian with 20 years of private sector experience as an investment advisor and software consultant. He was elected to represent Missouri’s 7th Congressional District in 2022, taking over Rep. Billy Long's longtime seat. He is running for reelection. Previously, Burlison represented the 20th state Senatorial District, which includes Christian County and part of Greene County, from 2019 to 2023. Before his election to the Missouri Senate, he represented the 133rd District in the Missouri House of Representatives.
Why is he running? Rep. Burlison says there's a lot to be done. He says he wants to fight for the values of southwest Missouri and ensure that we have a thriving and robust economy and workforce. A top-ranked conservative, Burlison says many other conservative lawmakers' voting records don't reflect conservative values. He said it's not just about being principled, but also about getting things done.
"When you look at my voting record, I reflect the conservative values that I campaigned on," Burlison told the News-Leader. "When people rate my voting record amongst other members of Congress, I'm considered one of the most, if not the most, conservative member of Congress."
What does he want to do if elected? As a representative, Burlison was able to get on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's subcommittee for Railroads, Highways, and Waterways. This allowed him to play a key role on legislation that deals with the trucking industry, like increasing weight limits.
Burlison also wants to tackle the issues he's heard coming out of the Table Rock Lake area about a lack of development. He said it's a particularly difficult time for property owners, who often run into land disputes with the Army Corps of Engineers.
"I have sponsored two pieces of legislation trying to address those issues," Burlison said.
Burlison said he also wants to limit the size and scope of the federal government and to reduce government spending.
Audrey Richards (R)
Website: https://audreyformissouri.com/
Who is she? Audrey Richards was born in Joplin and raised in Kimberling City, and says she is well-versed in government work and agency minutiae. After working in the Treasury Department for six years, Richards became a policy manager and director at Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. She represents the organization at all levels of government as it studies the impact of social media and screen time on child development.
Why is she running? Richards says she is running for Congress because she represents a "drastically different" future for the Republican Party than Burlison. In her view, the Republican Party is about unity and maintaining a functioning government.
"The party as it is now, it's kind of the opposite of that. You know, they are divisive and consistently hindering any actual progress that can be made at the federal level," Richards told the News-Leader. "I also feel that Eric Burlison makes us look completely incompetent on the national stage."
What does she want to do if elected? As far as issues impacting the American people, Richards said the housing market is a big one. She wants to make it easier for young people to enter the housing market. She has been in favor of legislation such as the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, which aimed to prevent hedge funds from buying up large quantities of starter homes and creating artificial scarcity.
Richards said that many people — young and old — are struggling with costs of living. She wants to lower those costs, specifically drug prices. She said she wants to make the American Dream achievable again.
"No one's really winning in this economy," Richards said. "And our current Republican representative does not seem interested in making life better for anybody. So someone has to step up and say, 'I'm willing to do the work.' And that's me."
Richards said she also wants to tackle a federal moratorium on the sale of all farmland to foreign interests until a full inventory of that farmland can be taken.
John Adair (R)
Website: https://johnadairforcongress.org/
Who is he? For 30 years in 34 states around the country, John Adair has been a general contractor working in ground up construction and as a catastrophe insurance claim adjuster.
Why is he running? Adair said he's running for Congress because he feels called to run as the better choice against Burlison.
"I worked with thousands of people across this country successfully in my business, taking different players, thoughts, and views into work so we can work things together," Adair told the News-Leader. "Whereas my competition, he's a professional politician. So I think I'm in better touch with the working people here in southwest Missouri."
What does he want to do if elected? Adair said he wants to "kill the IRS," though that is more of a statement than a plan. He wants to simplify the tax system by imposing the same sales tax rate for everyone at the point of sale. This, Adair said, would eliminate the need for filing personal, corporate, and capital gains taxes.
Adair is also a proponent of "properly planned economic development," in which the government can give incentives to create a sense of community.
"Most important is going to be economic redevelopment," Adair said. "It actually works in rural areas, small towns, major cities, in a neighborhood, where we recreate a real sense of community. I want to say developments where synergy comes into play. Where you can shop, where you can work, where you can eat, where there's clothing stores, there's artist's stores."
Adair's campaign is also focused on securing the borders — both north and south. He also wants to impose term limits for senators and representatives.
Camille Lombardi-Olive (R)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/politicalinsaneasylum/
Who is she? Hailing from Joplin, Camille Lombardi-Olive is a regular candidate for Missouri's 7th District. Previously having run as a Democrat, she is running for the fourth time as a Republican. She identifies as an avid Trump supporter.
"I've basically been conservative for a long time," Lombardi-Olive told the News-Leader.
Why is she running? Lombardi-Olive is running because she sees people struggling more now than they were four years ago. She said rent is high, groceries are high, and quality of life is low. She says Washington needs candidates who will listen to their constituents to relieve that. She also wants to see more candidates active in the community.
"I volunteered eight times with Samaritan's Purse since the Joplin tornado," she said.
What does she want to do if elected? "I'm not just gonna sit down," Lombardi-Olive told the News-Leader.
Lombardi-Olive wants to crack down on immigration and "stop spending money" on undocumented immigrants until all homeless Americans are housed. She advocates for a closed border. She also wants to stop sending money to aid Ukraine and other countries involved in what she called "civil wars." She also says student loans must be paid back.
Missi Hesketh (D)
Website: https://missiheskethforcongress.com/
Who is she? The only Democratic candidate running in the primaries, Missi Hesketh is the mayor of Forsyth, Missouri, and a former city councilwoman. A 20-year veteran teacher, Hesketh is about to enter her fifth year of teaching gifted education in Ozark. After getting her master's degree, she was re-elected to city council and eventually ran for mayor.
Why is she running? "The list started out pretty lengthy and it just continues to grow and grow," Hesketh told the News-Leader.
One reason Hesketh is running goes back to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She remembers when Congress was replacing Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, and she was "flabbergasted" with Burlison's choice to replace him: Rep. Jim Jordan, one of many Republican lawmakers who sought to challenge the 2020 election results.
Hesketh is also running due to environmental concerns, especially after hearing Burlison celebrate a cut in funding to the Environmental Protection Agency. She says communities in the Ozarks rely on clean water for life, ecotourism, and recreation, and they must be protected. She was also frustrated when Burlison did not sign on to cosponsor HR 82, which does away with the Windfall Elimination Provision/Government Pension Offset that reduces Social Security benefits for those who worked in the private sector and then retire with a pension.
"It was at that point when I started reaching out to various contacts and Democratic committees to see who was going to run against Eric Burlison in '24, and there was nobody who was going to do it," Hesketh said. "And I absolutely refused to let him go uncontested and just walk into another time in that seat."
What does she want to do if elected? Hesketh said she wants to address poverty in the district, where rates can range from 15%-17% depending on the county. She said the current representative isn't doing anything to bring in programs to alleviate poverty in the district.
"My goal would be to bring some projects, talk to community leaders, and see what is wanted, what is needed, and see if I can help facilitate that and try to make some differences in our communities. Especially the rural ones like Forsyth, that has been just ignored for decades," Hesketh said.
Hesketh also wants to ensure reproductive rights for Missourians, who succeeded in putting abortion on the November ballot. She also wants to push for common sense gun reform. She said she offers the best choice against Burlison because she represents people, not corporations.
"I'm in touch with the community and the concerns of the community," Hesketh said. "He's more in touch with the folks who make the big donations."
More: What's on the ballot in Springfield and Greene County in the August primary elections
Kevin Craig
Website: https://www.kevincraig.us/
Who is he? The Libertarian candidate running for Missouri's 7 District, Kevin Craig has been a political junkie since high school. Growing up in California, he represented Orange County at the National Student Congress Championships. He spent the better part of a decade helping unhoused communities with the Catholic Worker Movement and later started his own nonprofit organization.
Why is he running? Craig told the News-Leader he's running for Congress to give the people who believe in "the ideas that made America great" someone to vote for. He said he's the only candidate who is committed to keeping the oath of office to follow the Constitution. Craig said the main principle of his campaign is "liberty under God."
"I don't think Representative Burlison has been following the Constitution," Craig said. "I think if the founders could travel through time, they'd be absolutely horrified at what we've done to the country."
Craig said there is a whole "laundry list" of departments within the government, including the Department of Education, which are unconstitutional. Some are wasteful or even harmful, he said.
"I don't have any friends that I want to give jobs in Washington to, so I would just abolish the organization and follow the Constitution," he said.
What does he want to do if elected? If elected, Craig would get to work on abolishing agencies he finds unconstitutional. He said he would even abolish entities that are "arguably constitutional," such as the post office.
"Why does the government need a monopoly on the delivery of Christmas cards, for example?" Craig said.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison faces primary election challengers. What to know
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