Republican · Missouri's 5th District · 2026
Rick Brattin
Brattin grew up in Greenwood and joined the Marines after high school, serving for six years.
Biography
Rick Brattin grew up in Greenwood and graduated from Lee's Summit High School.1 He and his wife, Athena, have five children and are grandparents.1.2 He enjoys hunting, working around his forty acre property and attending his children's sporting events.1
Brattin served six years in the Marine Corps and reached the rank of sergeant.1 After leaving the military, he started a small construction business.1 He and his family belong to Abundant Life Church in Lee's Summit.1
He won election to the Missouri House in 2010 and served four terms, including work as majority floor whip and chair of a government oversight committee.1 He subsequently served as Cass County auditor before winning a state Senate seat in 2020.2 He was reelected in 2024 and chairs the Senate Education Committee.2 He is the Republican nominee for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District in 2026, facing Democrat Emanuel Cleaver and Libertarian Randy Langkraehr.3
His congressional platform calls for lower taxes, less regulation and increased domestic energy production.4 Brattin supports full funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and stronger immigration enforcement.4 He opposes abortion, wants to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood and supports gun rights.4 His education agenda emphasizes parental oversight and opposition to federal programs he describes as promoting ideological discrimination.4
Record and controversies
False identification lawsuit
After the February 2024 Chiefs parade shooting, Brattin shared a post falsely identifying an uninvolved man as a shooter and an undocumented immigrant, adding a demand to close the border.5.6 An earlier Kansas lawsuit was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, without deciding the claim's merits.7
The man's estate continued a false light invasion of privacy claim in Missouri.5 Brattin argued that he had added only border policy commentary, that Section 230 protected him from liability for someone else's content, and that legislative immunity applied.5 On October 7, 2025, the court denied dismissal, allowing the claim to proceed on allegations taken as true rather than deciding liability.5
The Eighth Circuit heard the appeal on September 24, 2026, and took it under advisement.8.6 A subsequent appellate decision was not verified as of October 29, 2026.