Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R) Elected 1996, 5th term
Born:	May 22, 1958, Sikeston
Home:	Columbia
Education:	U. of MO, B.S. 1980, U. of MS, J.D. 1983
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Renee)
Professional Career:	Asst. Pub. Defender, 32d Judicial Circuit, 1983-86; Asst. Prosecuting Atty., Cape Girardeau, 1986-89; Spec. Prosecutor, MO Atty. Gen., 1989-96.
DC Office	412 CHOB20515, 202-225-2956; Fax: 202-225-5712; Web site: www.house.gov/hulshof
State Offices	Columbia, 573-449-5111; Hannibal, 573-221-1200; Washington, 636-239-4001.
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Little Dixie, the swath of northeast Missouri along the Mississippi River, was settled by Southerners from Kentucky and Virginia. Its most famous native son is Mark Twain, born Sam Clemens in Hannibal, then as now a little town on bluffs overlooking the river. Hannibal was the thinly disguised St. Petersburg of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, lovingly created years later complete with Pike County and other dialect by Twain, then living in New England. Little Dixie was pro-Confederate during the Civil War; Callaway County declared its independence from the Union. For many years faithfully Democratic, Little Dixie has reared some notable politicians as well. One was Champ Clark, speaker of the House from 1911 to 1919 and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912; another was Clarence Cannon, author of the definitive text on the House's parliamentary procedures and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee from 1941 to 1964 except for four years of Republican control.

The 9th Congressional District of Missouri is the descendant of the Little Dixie districts that elected Clark and Cannon, but slow population growth has meant that it has had to be expanded far to the south and into the foothills of the Ozarks. It includes Columbia, home of the University of Missouri, and Fulton, home of Westminster College, where in 1946 Winston Churchill, accompanied by President Harry Truman, told the world that "from Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." The district includes the western edge of the St. Louis metro area, western St. Charles County and Franklin County south of the Missouri River. Despite its Democratic heritage, it votes mostly Republican now, 55% for George W. Bush in 2000 and 59% in 2004.

The congressman from the 9th District is Kenny Hulshof (pronounced HULLZ-hoff), a Republican first elected in 1996. He grew up on a farm in far southeast Missouri. After getting his bachelor degree in agriculture economics at the University of Missouri and his law degree from the University of Mississippi, he joined the public defender's office in Cape Girardeau. In 1989, he became a special prosecutor for the Missouri attorney general's office and traveled to 53 counties, obtaining 60 violent felony convictions and seven death sentences; he is certified as a specialist instructor in criminal law. In the midst of this, in 1994, he became the Republican nominee in the 9th District. This was a surprise: challenger Rick Hardy had held Democratic Congressman Harold Volkmer to a 48%-46% victory in 1992 and was running again; but after the filing deadline he withdrew from the race due to depression and exhaustion. Party leaders named Hulshof as Hardy's replacement. He was far outspent, but made a respectable showing, and lost 50%-45%.

In 1996 Hulshof ran again. Volkmer's combative temperament and irritation with the new Republican majority made him one of its most persistent antagonists. Hulshof narrowly won his primary; in the general election, Volkmer ran an ad showing Hulshof in a Porsche driven by Newt Gingrich and attacking him for signing away his independence in the Contract with America. Hulshof replied that his Porsche was a used car sitting in his yard, and he charged that Volkmer had voted to raise taxes 20 times in 20 years and had voted for 40% pay raises. The key moment came in October when Volkmer, in response to a question, said voters were not overtaxed and that he would not mind paying $1 million in taxes. Hulshof ran radio ads quoting Volkmer all over the district. Volkmer carried Little Dixie 53%-46%, but Hulshof led elsewhere for a 49%-47% win.

In the House, Hulshof had a voting record near the center of his party. He was elected president of the Republican freshman class and he decried "partisan bickering" 15 days after taking office. With Democratic freshman president Jim Davis, he supported the 1997 balanced budget agreement; he helped organize the civility retreats in Hershey and backed Shays-Meehan campaign finance regulation. The Republican leadership gave him a prized seat on Ways and Means as a freshman. He used the platform to back repeal of the estate tax, scaling back taxation of dividend and interest income, and favorable tax treatment of ethanol. He co-authored Bush's proposal to create education savings accounts, and he has been a leading advocate of making permanent the tax cuts of 2001. As a member of the Social Security Subcommittee, he praised Bush's reform initiative in 2005 but said that he was open to a variety of approaches. With a district crisscrossed by many long-distance rail lines, he proposed to cut the excise tax on rail fuel. On the ethics committee, he chaired the subcommittee that investigated allegations of undue pressure on members during the November 2003 vote on the Medicare/prescription drug bill and he joined the unanimous committee votes in October 2004 to admonish Majority Leader Tom DeLay on two counts; he praised its efforts as "the least partisan committee work I've ever been involved with." In early 2005, he was dropped from the panel and reportedly was miffed that he was given no explanation.

Hulshof has been reelected by wide margins. He was credited by some Missouri Republicans for gains the party made in legislative elections in his district that enabled them to gain majorities in both houses of the legislature in 2002.

Committees

• Budget (6th of 22 R).
• Ways & Means (13th of 24 R): Health; Social Security.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	5	0	0	0	100	58	100	91	86	92	--
2003	5	--	0	5	--	62	100	92	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	17%	--	81%		28%	--	72%
Social	24%	--	71%		30%	--	70%
Foreign	40%	--	58%		10%	--	86%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Kenny Hulshof (R)	193,429	65%	$1,017,285
	Linda Jacobsen (D)	101,343	34%	$130,908
	Other	4,675	2%
2004 primary	Kenny Hulshof (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Kenny Hulshof (R)	146,032	68%	$879,910
	Donald Deichman (D)	61,126	29%
	Other	6,967	3%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (59%); 1998 (62%); 1996 (49%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 180,362 (59%) Kerry (D) 124,965 (41%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 145,604 (55%) Gore (D) 112,239 (42%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Ninth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 7
• District Size: 14,082 square miles
• Population in 2000: 621,690; 45.8% urban; 54.2% rural
• Median Household Income: $36,693; 11.8% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 29.7% blue collar; 54.4% white collar; 15.9% gray collar; 13.5% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 92.6% White, 3.9% Black, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.1% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.1% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 21.7% German, 9.3% Irish, 9.2% USA
• Click here for statewide demographic data.