Why It Matters
Missouri’s 6th Congressional District is entering a period of political transition after one of the state’s longest-serving House members announced his retirement. The open seat race carries significant implications for Missouri Republican politics, the balance of power in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the broader struggle between competing factions within the national GOP heading into the 2026 midterms.
Missouri’s 6th District, which stretches across the northern half of the state, is considered a safe Republican seat. That makes the primary election, rather than the general, the contest that will determine who represents the district in Washington — and it has already drawn a field of candidates with sharply different political profiles.
What Happened
U.S. Representative Sam Graves, a Republican who has represented Missouri’s 6th Congressional District since 2001, announced he will retire and will not seek a 14th term in Congress. Graves, 62, confirmed the decision to the Wall Street Journal on March 27, 2026, after weeks of speculation that he planned to step aside before the candidate filing deadline of March 31.
“I think it is time for me to step down,” Graves told the Journal. “I filed for re-election, and I was still kind of evaluating…my next chapter in life, and what that might look like.”
Graves currently serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, one of the most influential committee posts in the lower chamber. His departure will trigger a succession process for that chairmanship while simultaneously opening the door to a competitive Republican primary in northwest Missouri.
Within hours of Graves’ announcement becoming public, two candidates stepped forward. Republican state Representative Mazzie Christenson of Bethany confirmed she is seriously considering entering the race. Christenson, who won her state House seat in 2022 by defeating an incumbent Republican in a primary, previously worked in the Trump White House and served as a war room analyst for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Radio host Chris Stigall also announced Friday morning that he would file to run for the seat. Stigall hosts a nationally syndicated program on the Salem Radio Network and said his candidacy was directly inspired by President Trump. He will step away from his radio position to mount the campaign. A third name, Nathan Willett, has also been mentioned as a potential candidate in early discussions within Missouri Republican circles.
By the Numbers
- 25 years: The length of Sam Graves’ tenure in Congress, having served since 2001.
- 13 terms: The number of terms Graves has served, making him one of Missouri’s longest-tenured House members.
- March 31, 2026: The candidate filing deadline that will determine the initial field of primary contestants.
- 2022: The year Christenson won her state House seat by defeating a Republican incumbent in a primary election.
- 1 of several: Graves is among a growing number of House Republicans choosing to step aside ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, a trend being tracked nationally.
Zoom Out
Graves’ retirement is part of a broader pattern of House retirements ahead of the 2026 midterms, a cycle in which control of the lower chamber is expected to be competitive. When senior members leave, particularly those holding committee chairmanships, the ripple effects extend beyond individual districts. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee oversees federal infrastructure spending, transit policy, and aviation regulation — areas of high legislative priority in recent congressional sessions.
The Missouri race is also shaping up as a microcosm of a national intra-party conflict within the Republican Party. Kansas City-based political consulting firm Axiom Strategies, founded by Jeff Roe, has long been a dominant force in Missouri GOP politics. However, following Roe’s work on Ron DeSantis’ 2024 super PAC, Trump publicly criticized him, and Trump allies warned House Republicans against working with the firm. That dynamic means candidate alignments in the Missouri 6th primary could reflect broader Trumpworld versus establishment Republican tensions playing out across multiple states.
What’s Next
The immediate focus will be on the March 31 filing deadline, after which the full field of primary candidates will be formally established. Christenson has not yet made a final official announcement, and additional candidates may emerge in the final days before the deadline closes.
Following the filing period, candidates will begin organizing campaigns, fundraising, and seeking endorsements — with a Trump endorsement likely to carry outsized influence in a northwest Missouri Republican primary. The primary election itself will be held as part of Missouri’s 2026 election calendar, with the winner of that contest expected to be heavily favored in the general election given the district’s strong Republican lean.
The House Republican Conference will separately need to address the question of committee chairmanship succession for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee following Graves’ departure from Congress at the end of the current term.