U.S. Rep. Sam Graves ends reelection bid, setting up GOP scramble in northern Missouri 11%
By Jason Rosenbaum0%
3/27/2026, 6:52:21 AM
Topics: Government Politics And Issues
BS Summary: This article contains 14 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Unattributed Quote, and Hindsight Bias, with Pessimism Bias as the most egregious example at 14.2% saturation with 47 hits. Analysis detected 304 faulty-reasoning hits from 331 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 28.1% and a BS Rank of 11% (19,476 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 89.00% of the article peer group.
A powerful Missouri Republican congressman is pulling the plug on his reelection bid.
U.S.
Rep.
Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, said in a statement that he will bow out of the GOP primary for Missouri’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses most of northern Missouri.
He’s currently the head of the House Transportation Committee.
“After considerable reflection, 2026 will be my final year in Congress,” Graves posted on Facebook.
“This wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right one.
I believe in making room for the next generation.
It’s time to pass the torch and allow a new guard of conservative leaders to step forward and chart a path forward for Missourians.”
While Graves, 62, filed for reelection, his departure had been rumored for weeks.
Graves has been in elected office since the early 1990s.
And if Democrats win the House this fall, as polls show they could, Graves would have less power for the foreseeable future.
Graves’ departure could set up a scramble to succeed him.
Potential candidates include Chris Stigall, a northwest Missouri native who hosts a nationally syndicated show on the Salem News Channel.
He announced that he's running in a post on Friday.
Other contenders include Kansas City Councilman Nathan Willett and state Rep.
Mazzie Christensen, who could join Kansas City resident Jim Ingram in the Republican primary.
Willett is running for a state Senate seat encompassing Platte and Buchanan counties, while Christensen represents a rural northern Missouri House district.
The 6th District also takes in most of northeastern Missouri, a historically Democratic part of the state that’s become much more Republican-leaning in the past decade.
The district is safely Republican, though it would become more Democratic under a new congressional map that may not be implemented for the 2026 election.
Josh Smead, Scot Pondelick and Matt Levine have filed to run as Democrats for the seat.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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