Missouri's 4th District candidates weigh in before primary

• The new 4th takes the city west of Troost Avenue to the Kansas state line, then runs 150 miles south. Republican Rep. Mark Alford holds the seat.
• The district also includes Grandview, Lee's Summit and Blue Springs, along with much of the Lake of the Ozarks, Fort Leonard Wood and Stockton.

We asked each Democratic and Republican candidate about the issues they're running on and their No. 1 priority should they get elected.

Democrats

Jeanette Cass is a farmer and school board member near Springfield who lost to Alford in 2024.

• She tells Axios she wants to end Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that let corporations and unions spend unlimited amounts on independent political ads.
• Cass added that education and universal health care are top priorities.

Hartzell Gray, a former radio personality and tenant activist in KC, says his biggest priority is "restoring a government that works for ordinary people" by ending Citizens United and getting "big money out of politics."

• Other goals include "wealth redistribution" through a stronger progressive tax and rent controls, universal health care and reproductive freedom.

Jordan Herrera, a veteran and former assistant attorney general for Missouri, says his campaign is about "economic freedom for every American," built around housing, health care, education and food security.

• He tells Axios the next session of Congress "will be about investigations to hold bad actors accountable for corruption," including a special prosecutor to examine everyone named in the Epstein files.

Randy Miller, a KC radio host and podcaster who calls himself the "common sense candidate," says he wants an immediate moratorium on building new data centers, plus heavier taxes on those that exist.

• He's also pushing for more VA clinics across the 4th District "so veterans don't have to drive over an hour."

Ashleigh Rogers, a designer at Populous, says her goal is "to get us talking again" and that there's no one issue that takes priority. She says the economy, health care, child care, education, food security, housing and transportation are both urban and rural issues.

Two other candidates, G. Rick and Wayne Russell, did not respond to Axios' questions.

Republicans

Alford is challenged by two other Republican candidates.

Scott Vera, who describes himself as a Christian conservative, tells Axios his top priority is to cut government spending through "rigorous audits" and reduce the federal debt by decreasing borrowing.

• "I will deliver genuine fiscal discipline that lowers costs," he says.

Heather Shelton is a Lee's Summit real estate agent.

• Neither Shelton nor Alford responded to our questions.

Libertarian Thomas Holbrook is also on the ballot in November.

What's next: Polls are open 6am-7pm Tuesday.

• Find your polling spot here.

Go deeper: Your 2026 primary election guide.