Missouri New Members 2023

Sen.-elect Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)

DATE OF BIRTH: June 20, 1975
RESIDENCE: St. Louis
OCCUPATION: Missouri state attorney general
EDUCATION: B.A., Truman State University; J.D., Saint Louis University
FAMILY: wife, Jaime Schmitt; three children

• Missouri native Eric Schmitt (R) defeated Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine to claim the state’s Senate seat.

Schmitt currently serves as Missouri’s attorney general, a position he’s held since 2019.

He previously served as the state’s treasurer and was a member of the Missouri state Senate from 2009 to 2017. Schmitt replaces retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R).

Schmitt said he will focus on holding China accountable, taking on Big Tech, and fighting cancel culture, according to his campaign website. 

During his time as state senator, he advocated for several policies related to the economy, affordable health care, education and property taxes.

Schmitt has also been a longtime advocate for children and adults with special needs, a matter that is personal to him. His son was born with a rare genetic condition causing tumors on his organs.

— Ines Kagubare

Rep.-elect Mark Alford (R-Mo.-4)

DATE OF BIRTH: Oct. 4, 1963
RESIDENCE: Raymore, Mo.
OCCUPATION: former news anchor
EDUCATION: B.A., University of Texas at Austin
FAMILY: wife, Leslie Alford, three children

• Mark Alford will represent Missouri’s 4th Congressional District after defeating Democratic challenger Jack Truman. The seat was left open after incumbent Vicky Hartzler (R) launched an unsuccessful bid for the Senate.

Alford worked as a news anchor, starting his career at KXAN-TV an NBC-affiliated station in Austin, Texas. He has also previously worked at WPTV-TV, a CBS affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla. Perhaps most notably, for 23 years he worked as the morning anchor for Fox 4 KC, a news station based in Kansas City, Mo., before leaving in 2021 to pursue politics.

Throughout the campaign, Alford has marketed himself as a conservative outsider.

“I’m not a politician, and I’m not going to play a game of political leapfrog from one political office to the next,” said Alford in his campaign announcement video. “In fact, some in the political establishment have already started calling me the conservative TV guy.”

— Camdyn Bruce

Rep.-elect Eric Burlison (R-Mo.-7)

DATE OF BIRTH: Oct. 2, 1976
RESIDENCE: Battlefield, Mo.
OCCUPATION: state senator
EDUCATION: B.A., MBA, Missouri State University
FAMILY: wife, Angie Burlison; two children

• Eric Burlison will represent Missouri’s 7th Congressional District after beating Democratic hopeful Kristen Radaker-Sheafer. The seat was left open when incumbent Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) chose to run for Senate. 

Burlison was elected state representative in 2009, and in 2018 he was elected to represent the 20th District in the state Senate. 

As a state politician, some of Burlison’s biggest accomplishments include founding the conservative caucus in the state legislature and serving as its first chairman. Burlison sponsored the Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground Laws, for which he had to overcome a governor’s veto.

Burlison has been ranked the number one legislator in the state by conservative organizations such as the American Conservative Union and the Club for Growth in the past.

Burlinson is also a tax consultant and investment adviser, as well as a software consultant for Cerner.

— Camdyn Bruce