What you need to know: U.S. House of Representatives – 5th District Race

By Max Goodwin

Missouri’s 5th Congressional District has long been represented by Emanuel Cleaver II, who will be challenged on November 5 by Jackson County legislator Sean Smith. The 5th District includes all of Kansas City, Missouri, Grandview and Lee’s Summit.

Emmanuel Cleaver II

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II is nearing the end of his tenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has been involved in politics in Kansas City since 1979. He was elected mayor of Kansas City in 1991. He’s been in Congress since 2005.

He says he promised the district when he was first voted into the House that they would never open a newspaper or turn on the television to see him calling names or using conspiracies to blame the other side. Instead, he tries to focus on what is getting done. He emphasizes how much Kansas City has grown over the decades.

“There is a big city feel to Kansas City right now,” Cleaver II said. He describes how Kansas City was once just a small town trying to make it in the 1950s, but now, it has exploded. He contrasts it to St. Louis, which has seen a population decline. “So, we’re doing something right,” he says.

He lists the recent achievements he’s proud of, including local projects paid for with federal funding. He points out that much of that funding comes from the Infrastructure Deal passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.

Funding included Blue Ridge Boulevard’s expansion and an investment in sustainability, like buying ten electric buses and charging stations for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

He led a decade-long effort to get a statue of Harry Truman commissioned for display at the U.S. Capitol that culminated in 2022. Truman was raised on a family farm in Grandview and is the only president from Missouri. The statue of Truman now stands in the Capitol Rotunda, flanked by statues of George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant.

Ten days before election day, Cleaver II will turn 80. He says he’s still in good health and achieving results for his district. He sees this election as a tipping point, and whichever party wins the presidential election will have to work to mend the political divides. Cleaver II wants to be a part of that.

Cleaver II prefers to return to his list of achievements. There’s the construction of a new Buck O’Neil Bridge and funding for the Minority Chamber Development Center on Ward Parkway, which serves as the headquarters for both the Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Greater Kansas City.

“Washington functions on seniority,” he says. “Seniority matters.”

“Obviously, somebody is going to have to sit in my seat one day. Hopefully, I’ll be able to help guide him or her so that it won’t take a long period of time before somebody will listen to you.”

Sean Smith

Sean Smith is a Jackson County Legislator who won the Republican primary for the 5th District. He is a business consultant who has run twice unsuccessfully for the Missouri House of Representatives. If he defeats Cleaver II, he will leave his seat in the County Legislature two years into his four-year term. He’s gained name recognition as a voice on the County Legislature for residents angered by significant increases in property taxes after county assessments.

Smith wants more secure borders and the hiring of more police officers as priorities for the federal government. He says Cleaver II has been in the seat long enough and could be worn down by years in office.

“I don’t think he’s got cognitive decline issues or anything like we see with some other candidates, but I think he’s been in there a long time,” Smith said. “I think there is some valid criticism to whether or not he has the same energy for it as what he used to.”

In 2022, Cleaver II defeated his Republican opponent, Jacob Turk, gaining 61 percent of the vote to 36.4 percent for Turk. Smith says he’s in the race to win but would be happy to surprise people with a closer race than expected. He thinks he has a better shot as a sitting member of an elected office in Jackson County.

“Anybody in any job role for 20 years, if they feel they’re absolutely safe and secure, they lose one part of what can motivate people,” Smith said.

Smith says Cleaver II could have intervened in the Jackson County tax assessments. A member of the House can use their influence to deny funding for projects unless the problem is fixed, as he sees it.

Cleaver II says the federal government has nothing to do with county property tax assessments. He says a large group of residents from Kansas City’s Westside came to him to ask him to intervene.

“I said I wish I could, but that is not a federal issue,” he said. “That is a county issue and state government issue.”