At SEMO’s University Center, Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, Frank Barnitz and Chris Reichard, participated in a public debate on May 16, discussing their views on several topics, such as gun violence, education, affordability, and the Citizens United decision.
Barnitz and Reichard are running against incumbent Republican Jason Smith for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri’s Eighth District.
Smith, a Republican, has served since June 4, 2013. Smith is next up for reelection in 2026 and serves until Jan. 3, 2027. He is 45 years old.
Amy Nantz, a member of the leadership group of 'Indivisible SEMO' and a member of the Cape County Democrats, hosted the debate and said her main goal was to get the candidates to give spontaneous answers to the public.
Nantz believes that the Democrats have a real chance to take Smith’s seat in Congress this coming election.
“I think this is the first time in quite a few years that this is the first real chance that we've had to take this seat away from him [Jason Smith]. And if he bothered to show up in the eighth district at all and talk to any of us, that might not be such a hard line for us, but he does not come here, and when he does, he only comes to paid dinners, so he never talks just to regular people. And when you call, you get a canned response,” Nantz said.
“Every time we've called any of these candidates, they've responded, we've emailed back and forth, they've shown it to every event we've had, they come to our meetings just to see and talk to people and kind of hear what they want to know about them, so that's something we have had in Jason's season, and I really think this is the time to take that away from him.”
At the end of the debate, Barnitz and Reichard were asked to describe who they were, their plan, and why they believed people should vote for them.
Barnitz described his experiences as a fifth-generation farmer and business owner in his small community, as well as his service on a school board, a hospital board, and several local organizations.
“I have a lot of credentials to go with what I'm running for, and I represent the people of this district, based on my experiences, and I certainly am willing to address this by having town hall meetings and being out in front of the people, and recognize one thing that I always leave with is that I want you to know that I respect you as individuals. I respect your opinions, and I want to earn your vote. I think Jason Smith expects your vote, and I want you to know that I earn your vote,” Barnitz said.
Reichard, a military veteran, said as a congressman, he will be willing to stand up to President Donald Trump.
“I am not backing down from that man. I am going to stand up every bit of the way, and it's my life experience in the working class and in the military class that knows that I can handle this with every stone they throw my direction. It is worth every hit that I take to make sure they're held accountable,” Reichard said.
If Democrats take control of the House and Senate, Reichard said his top priority on day one would be to start building a coalition of bills to pass and build more accountability in the government.
“We see the crimes perpetrated by the executive branch every single day. There is no doubt in my mind that the evidence is there, plan to see for everybody to go. I will sign the articles of impeachment if we have the support in the Senate to convict or go all the way to Article Two, Section Four,” Reichard said.
Meanwhile, Barnitz said if he gets elected into office, his day-one priority would be increasing funding to Medicare and Medicaid.
“They do affect us. They affect the programs that we put in place with SNAP benefits and those types of things. They affect us when we go to the hospital or the doctor, and the increase in the costs that have occurred there because of the reduction or cuts in the Medicare and Medicaid rates, it affects our communities on who we take care of, it takes it affects our elderly, it affects our disabled population, it affects our children, it affects us in every way as a community that there could be, so I think there Medicare and Medicaid is reversing those actions and those cuts from the 'One Big Beautiful Bill that Congressman Smith wants to tout,” Barnitz said.
Voting for the Primary Election will be on Aug. 4, and the General Election will be on Nov. 3. To vote in the Primary, citizens must be registered to vote by July 8.