Expected Rep. Rick Brattin (R), Missouri's 5th District
For the first time, the Almanac of American Politics is now publishing biographies of expected members of the next Congress. We will publish these once a nominee is chosen for a seat that’s solid for that nominee’s party. These will appear months before they take office, in order to give readers an advance look at incoming members. As with all new Almanac content, they will be accessible only to paid subscribers to this Substack.
Rick Brattin won the August 2026 Republican primary for a district radically redrawn by Republicans to divide the population of Jackson County (Kansas City) and eliminate the seat held by 22-year Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. Despite the map changes, Cleaver is running again, but he’s the clear underdog. The contest has been complicated by an ongoing Democratic court challenge to the validity of the Republican-drawn redistricting.
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