Missouri’s 5th District 2026: Cleaver vs. Brattin, the Records
Missouri’s 5th District
This race is run on the district lines Missouri has used since 2022. Proposition A, on the same ballot, decides which lines are used after this election.
On candidates we publish records, votes, donors, dollars, and dates, and nothing else. No endorsements, no scores, no adjectives. The judgment is yours.
📌 The Stakes Are HighThree candidates are on the November 3 ballot in the 5th: Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D), state Sen. Rick Brattin (R), and Randall Langkraehr (L). The race is run on the 2022 district, not the 2025 map that split Kansas City at Troost, because the referendum on that map, Proposition A, was certified and is on this same ballot.
In 2025 the legislature passed a new congressional map that would draw the 5th District’s western border at Troost Avenue and extend it east toward Jefferson City. A citizen referendum put that map on this ballot as Proposition A. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously on September 3 that the referendum goes forward, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to let the new map be used before the vote. So this race uses the 2022 lines. If Proposition A passes, the 2025 map is used in future elections.
🧭 Where Each Stands on the MapEmanuel Cleaver IIDemocrat · Incumbent
Called the 2025 map an “unconstitutional gerrymander” in a statement after it passed in September 2025 and said he would fight it in court. (CNN, Sept. 12, 2025)
Rick BrattinRepublican
Voted YES on HB 1, the 2025 map, which passed the Senate 21 to 11 on September 12, 2025 (Senate Journal). Plaintiff, with U.S. Rep. Bob Onder and two voters, in a federal lawsuit seeking to have the 2025 map used despite the referendum (KSHB).
Randall LangkraehrLibertarian
No public statement on the 2025 map found.
Emanuel Cleaver IIDemocrat · Incumbent
U.S. representative since 2005. Kansas City’s first Black mayor, 1991 to 1999, after twelve years on the City Council. United Methodist pastor, St. James UMC, 1973 to 2009. Member, House Financial Services Committee. Unopposed in the August 4 Democratic primary.
Rick BrattinRepublican
Missouri state senator since 2020; state representative, 2010 to 2018. Won the August 4 Republican primary with about 44 percent of the vote; endorsed by President Trump.
Randall LangkraehrLibertarian
Vice chair of the Missouri Libertarian Party. Previously ran for Congress in 2012, 2014, and 2022.
Federal Election Commission totals for the 2025–26 cycle, through September 30, 2026 (Cleaver, Brattin).
Vote in this race, then vote on Proposition A. One decides who holds the seat in January. The other decides which district lines are used after that.
