Graves retains House seat

By Jenna Wilson

Republican Rep. Sam Graves won reelection to the U.S. House seat representing northern Missouri Tuesday. 

Graves, of Tarkio, won his 12th election to hold the post he’s occupied since 2001, representing Missouri’s 6th congressional district.

“I think I’m very close to what people want in terms of representation and I think that’s the reason why I’ve been able to be reelected,” Graves said in a previous interview with News-Press NOW. “I’m very grounded and there isn’t a weekend that I don’t get back to the district.”

He defeated Democratic challenger Pam May of St. Joseph. This was her first run for office, a contrast to Graves, who served eight years in the Missouri General Assembly before going to Congress.

Graves took almost 66 % of the vote in Buchanan County and was leading by a slightly higher margin districtwide late Tuesday.

Graves serves on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. One of his main priorities is to continue impacting the economy and communities by addressing infrastructure needs.

“As chairman of the transportation committee, it’s always important to me to find those dollars for the state of Missouri,” Graves told News-Press NOW in September. “And we’ll continue to work on that in the next Congress. If I am reelected, we’ll be doing the reauthorization the of highway bill and I’ll continue to look for those dollars so that we can get projects done throughout north Missouri.”