Missouri District 7 candidates

District 7

According to the House of Representatives’ website, “The House is one of Congress’ two chambers (the other being the U.S. Senate) and part of the federal government’s legislative branch.” For simplicity, the legislative branch deals with lawmaking. Desiree Nixon | News Editor | @DesireeNixon17

Billy Long

Republican incumbent candidate Billy Long from Springfield is running for re-election for U.S. Representative of Missouri’s seventh congressional district. Long has been in the House of Representatives since Jan. 5, 2011, according to Ballotpedia.

Long received his education at the University of Missouri in Columbia from 1973-1976. However, he dropped out before graduating from the University of Missouri to go to the Missouri Auction School. He currently owns Billy Long Auctions, LLC.

As for politics, according to Long’s government website, he holds traditional conservative values.

“For each piece of legislation I vote on, I ask myself a number of questions such as: does it reduce the size of government, promote personal responsibility, strengthen the family, reduce the tax burden and promote personal freedom?” Long said on his website. “While running for this seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, I campaigned on those principles and continue to work to uphold them today.”

Currently, Long is on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives.

“Congressman Long sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee where he serves on three crucial subcommittees: Communications and Technology, Health and Environment and Climate Change,” Long’s candidate biography on his website states.

Long’s Democratic competitor Teresa Montseny dropped out of the race in mid-September.

For more information on Long, visit his government website, long.house.gov and campaign website at billylongforcongress.com.

Teresa Montseny

During the 2020 General Election cycle, Congressman Billy Long is up for re-election. Running against him was Democratic candidate Teresa Montseny. However, in mid-September, Montseny unofficially dropped out of the race, according to Ballotpedia.

Before she dropped, Montseny was planning on promoting civil rights in Southwest Missouri.

“(Montseny) noticed the neighborhood was all white, but on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and those same neighbors ran out into their front yards and the street celebrating his murder,” Montseny’s website says. “She was shocked, and that began her civil rights activism. Political activism also became key to her everyday life.”

Montseny does not have prior political experience. However, she did volunteer on Gabby Gifford’s, a house of Representatives representing District Eight in Arizona and John McCain’s, a former US senator’s, campaign, her website states.

Her website states she supported common-sense gun legislation and also believed climate change is real and will affect the rural areas of the country. Finally, she thought reproductive rights should be protected.

For more information on Montseny, visit her campaign website, montsenyforcongress.com