former U.S. Rep. Pat Danner Archives

Rural Missouri congressional district has more square miles than nine U.S. states

April 7, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee working on congressional redistricting will hear public testimony Thursday morning in Jefferson City from residents in northern Missouri’s massive Sixth Congressional District, which covers more square miles than nine U.S. states.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (left) meets with Missouri Governor Mike Parson at the Capitol in Jefferson City on February 24, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The district includes 36 of Missouri’s 114 counties. The Sixth District includes St. Joseph, Tarkio, Cameron, Chillicothe, Bethany, Trenton, Kirksville, Macon and Hannibal. The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are both in the district.

The district is represented by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Tarkio), who’s the dean of Missouri’s congressional delegation. He’s serving his 11th term on Capitol Hill.

The Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting will meet Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The committee will hear in-person testimony, and written testimony will also be accepted. Committee Chair Dan Shaul (R-Imperial) says the committee is looking for information on what makes the district good and bad, and key characteristics about the district.

Flooding has been a major issue in the district, for the past 30 years. The flood of 1993 devastated the district. The entire town of Pattonsburg had to be relocated. The floods of 1995 and 2019 also caused major problems. Congressman Graves has been critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for how they’ve managed the Missouri River.

Agriculture is also a big issue in the district, as is transportation. The district includes I-29, I-35 and Highway 36. Graves is the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Graves was re-elected to his 11th term in November, beating Democrat Gena Ross with 67 percent of the vote. Graves received 258,709 votes, while Ross received 118,926 votes.

Northern Missouri hasn’t sent a Democrat to Capitol Hill since former U.S. Rep. Pat Danner (D-Smithville), who served four terms from 1993-2000. The late U.S. Rep. Jerry Litton (D-Chillicothe) also represented the district, serving two terms from 1973-1976. Congressman Litton was killed in a plane crash in August 1976, after winning Missouri’s Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.

Platte City resident hopes to become first Democrat to represent far northern Missouri in Congress in 20 years

October 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(News director Brent Martin at Missourinet St. Joseph affiliate KFEQ contributed to this story)

The Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, in northern Missouri battled COVID this year, and says a mask mandate early on could have saved lives.

Platte City resident Gena Ross won the August Democratic nomination and is facing Graves, a dean of Missouri’s congressional delegation. Ross is an adjunct professor at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas. She’s also an assistant professor of business and American government at a Kansas City area community college.

She tells Missourinet St. Joseph affiliate KFEQ (AM 680) that she was hospitalized twice for COVID, spending a total of nine days in the hospital. She tells KFEQ host Barry Birr that her experience showed her how devastating the coronavirus is.

“Corona is wicked. It is demonic,” she says. “It has no respect of person. It’s invisible. So, just protect yourself the best that you can.”

She also criticizes President Trump, saying he didn’t take the virus seriously enough, soon enough.

Ross faces Congressman Graves next month. Graves is seeking his 11th term on Capitol Hill. The sprawling, rural district hasn’t sent a Democrat to Washington since Pat Danner. The Smithville Democrat served in Congress from 1993-2001.

The sixth congressional district is larger than nine states. It includes 36 counties and the towns of St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Trenton, Bethany, Kirksville, Hannibal and Memphis.

Congressman Graves’ priorities on Capitol Hill have included agriculture and flood control.

Click here to read the full story about Gena Ross, from Brent Martin at Missourinet St. Joseph affiliate KFEQ Radio.

Lawmaker worries northern Missouri’s flooding in recent years could impact Census numbers (AUDIO)

October 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(This is the second part of Brian Hauswirth’s two-part series on the status of the 2020 Census in Missouri)

A state lawmaker from northwest Missouri’s Carrollton is worried that the 2020 Census may miss residents who’ve been impacted by Missouri River flooding in recent years.

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 13, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, represents the Missouri House on the state 2020 complete count committee. Her sprawling district stretches from near Lexington to Mendon.

“The people that have been affected by the many floods we’ve had in the last ten years have been upended and maybe in some other part of their city, their county, the state, that just simply didn’t get reached,” McGaugh says.

While she’s pleased Missouri is trending at 90 percent-plus census completion, she wants to make sure that all residents are counted.

She says residents in the Missouri River sugar tree bottoms area were displaced for about seven months. Representative McGaugh’s district has seen flooding annually in recent years.

“The (39th) district here is so large and so rural that it would be difficult for maybe one person or a team to really, really go door-to-door and find these people,” says McGaugh.

McGaugh’s district takes about two hours to get from one side to the other.

She is pleased that the U.S. Census Bureau will continue its count through the end of October. McGaugh lives in the district of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, a district with 36 counties that is larger than nine states.

“I worry about his (Congressman Graves’) area, the whole top of the state of Missouri that might get left alone and not get the money that the Census brings in for the roads and the infrastructure and the schools. I don’t want them to be forgotten,” McGaugh says.

During the 1990s, northern Missouri had three congressional districts. They were represented by then-U.S. Reps. Pat Danner, D-Smithville, Harold Volkmer, D-Hannibal, and Ike Skelton, D-Lexington. Today, northern Missouri has one district (Graves), with one or two counties being represented by U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, and Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville.

That’s because of northern Missouri’s continued drop in population numbers.

The 2020 Census aims to count every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories. The complete count committee is working to ensure an accurate count of everyone living in Missouri to secure federal funding and fair representation for Missourians during the next decade.

McGaugh praises Missouri 2020 complete count committee chair Karen Best, saying the former Branson mayor has done an excellent job. Former Mayor Best notes this year’s Census has been unprecedented, because of COVID-19.

Former Mayor Best says the committee’s goal is to submit a final report to the governor by November 30. McGaugh says she looks forward to helping with the final draft of the report to the governor.

McGaugh also emphasizes the effort has been bipartisan, saying it’s crucial that all residents in traditionally Democratic St. Louis and Kansas City are counted as well. She says it’s about ensuring that Missouri gets fair representation in the U.S. House.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, which was recorded on October 6, 2020: