Summary
Rural Missouri and urban Missouri face very different challenges, and Mark Alford consistently votes in ways that hurt small farms, rural healthcare, and broadband access. He does not understand our rural reality, and his record shows he cannot represent the needs of Missouri’s 4th District.
By Ricky Dana, Candidate for U.S. House – Missouri’s 4th District
Mark Alford’s rural Missouri voting record shows how disconnected he is from the people he claims to represent. I spent years working area farms with my grandfather, and later lived on farms raising horses, chickens, and crops. I know the long days, the financial pressure, and the grit it takes to survive. Mark Alford does not.
Rural Missouri and Urban Missouri Are Completely Different Worlds
Urban Missouri enjoys conveniences that rural families rarely have. City residents have multiple hospitals, public transportation, grocery stores, and reliable high-speed internet. Out here in Missouri’s 4th District, the reality is very different. Since 2014, twelve rural hospitals in Missouri have shut down, leaving entire regions without emergency or inpatient care. When the nearest ER is more than an hour away, that is not an inconvenience. It is a dangerous barrier to basic healthcare.
Broadband access shows the same divide. As of 2024, large portions of rural Missouri still lack reliable high-speed internet, even as the state works to expand coverage2. Without broadband, families cannot work from home, students struggle with remote learning, and small businesses lose opportunities. These are real setbacks that urban lawmakers rarely think about because they have never had to live with them.
Mark Alford Does Not Understand Us
Mark Alford spent decades reading scripted lines on television in Kansas City. He lived in a suburb, not on a gravel road. He never hauled feed in August heat or stretched every dollar to keep a farm going during planting season. His entire background is built in a studio, not in a hayfield or barn.
When someone with no rural experience enters Congress, they do not suddenly understand rural life. They bring that same big-city worldview with them. And every time rural Missouri needs a leader who actually listens, Alford chooses political spectacle instead of practical solutions.
Why Mark Alford’s Rural Missouri Voting Record Hurts Our Communities
When you look at how Mark Alford treats rural Missouri, his votes clearly benefit corporate agriculture, not family farms3. He has backed policy efforts pushed by major agribusiness groups that weaken protections for small farmers and expand the power of mega-operations. When corporate farms win, rural communities lose. Every time!
Meanwhile, the cost of farming continues to rise. Planting soybeans can cost around eight hundred and fifty dollars per acre for single cropping and nearly double that for double cropping due to higher fertilizer, fuel, and equipment needs4. Small farms absorb these costs directly. Large corporate farms barely feel them. Yet Alford has repeatedly defended policies linked to rising costs, brushing aside the concerns of the very farmers he claims to represent5.
Rural Missouri Needs Real Representation
Our rural communities are built on strength, honesty, and hard work. But grit alone cannot fix disappearing hospitals, weak broadband, rising farm costs, or corporate consolidation. Rural Missouri needs a representative who understands these issues because they have lived them, not someone performing for donors and cameras.
I know what it means to work the land, tend livestock, and worry about how to afford the next season. I know the fear that comes when the closest clinic shuts down. I know the frustration of unreliable internet when you’re trying to help your children with school or run a business. These are not talking points for me. They are lived experiences.
When I am elected as your congressman, I will fight to strengthen rural healthcare, expand broadband to every county in our district, support small family farms, and protect rural livelihoods from corporate takeover. Rural Missouri deserves leadership grounded in our lived reality.
This is why Mark Alford’s rural Missouri voting record continues to fail the small towns and family farms he claims to speak for.
Mark Alford’s rural Missouri voting record shows a clear pattern of supporting corporate agriculture over small family farms.
Bottom Line
Mark Alford is not qualified to represent rural Missouri. His voting record favors big-city interests, corporate agriculture, and political theatrics instead of the hardworking families he is supposed to serve. Rural Missouri deserves more than a TV anchor pretending to champion farm life.
I will bring real rural experience and real Missouri values to Washington. Missouri grown. Missouri strong.
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Sources:
Missouri Independent. (2025, September 16). ‘And that’s all gone’: Rural health centers in Missouri close, end continuous local care. Missouri Independent. https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/16/and-thats-all-gone-rural-health-centers-in-missouri-close-end-continuous-local-care/
Missouri Department of Economic Development – Office of Broadband Development. (2024). Broadband expansion overview. https://ded.mo.gov/office-broadband-development/office-broadband-development
Farm and Dairy. (2024). Follow the money to the one tenth of one percent. Farm and Dairy. https://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/follow-the-money-to-the-one-tenth-of-one-percent/877671.html
American Soybean Association. (2024). The rising cost squeeze: Soybean farmers face a third year of losses. https://soygrowers.com/news-releases/the-rising-cost-squeeze-soybean-farmers-face-a-third-year-of-losses/
Slisco, A. (2024). Republicans say Americans are willing to suffer higher prices for Trump. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tariffs-higher-prices-inflation-2039190
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