Candidate · November 3, 2026
Josh Smead
On the ballot for U.S. House · Missouri's 6th District
- raised through Oct 14, 2026
- $146K
- cash on hand
- $35K
- issues with public statements
- 26
§1On the ballot
Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.
| Office | U.S. House · Missouri's 6th District1 |
|---|---|
| Party on the ballot | Democratic1 |
| Status | Open seat — no incumbent is running for this seat. |
| Also on the ballot |
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§2Who they are
Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Josh Smead is a licensed architect and small business owner who lives in Liberty, Missouri, and his campaign website says he has lived in Missouri since 2017 and has started an architecture and construction business there.2,
Why they say they're running
His campaign website says he is running to build a Missouri where young people can make their home, and to help North Missouri communities plan and build a future that gives people reason to stay.2 It also says he hopes to be part of a new generation in Congress and that North Missourians want and deserve action and accountability from Congress.3
Websites and accounts
- Campaign websitevotesmead.com2,
4 - Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=615746021008722
- Instagraminstagram.com/smead_for_missouri2
- TikToktiktok.com/@josh.smead2
- YouTubeyoutube.com/@JoshSmead2
- X (Twitter)x.com/JoshSmead2
- Threadsthreads.com/@smead_for_missouri2
- Blueskybsky.app/profile/joshsmead.bsky.social2
§3What they've said on the issues
Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.
Technology, Privacy and AI
His campaign website lists fully funding broadband expansion, especially in rural areas, getting high-speed internet into neglected areas, prioritizing unserved areas and regulating major telecom companies' profit and control.5
Energy and Climate
His campaign website lists investigating the costs and benefits of data centers to residents.5
Infrastructure and Transportation
His campaign website lists providing funds for new roads and repairing others.5
Taxes and Budget
His campaign website says the current administration must be stopped from holding up funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.5
His campaign website lists reversing the Republican tax cuts for the wealthy.5
Health Care
His campaign website says he supports moving America to a universal healthcare system.5
His campaign website opposes cuts to Medicaid and SNAP that it says the current administration is pushing, and lists working to retain Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP.5
Family and Social Policy
His campaign website lists working to retain SNAP and assisting those who can no longer afford housing or food.5
His campaign website lists funding universal pre-K and addressing childcare.5
Education
His campaign website lists no school vouchers because they divert funding from public schools, and no federal money going to private religious schools.5
- Make them available to every family
- Offer them only to some students, such as those from low-income families or with disabilities
- No public money for private school or homeschooling costs
His campaign website lists increasing federal and state funding to public schools.5
- Increase state funding for public schools
- Hold funding near current levels
- Reduce state school funding or slow its growth
His campaign website lists keeping religion out of public schools.5
- Require religious displays such as the Ten Commandments
- Let schools choose to post religious texts, lead prayer or hire chaplains
- No school-sponsored prayer or religious displays, while students may pray or share their faith on their own
Abortion and Reproductive Health
His campaign website says everyone deserves sovereignty over their bodies and that the government needs to stay out of personal choices from abortion rights to gender and lifestyle choices, and lists stopping Amendment 3 in November because it says the amendment will prevent reproductive freedom.5,
Economy, Jobs and Trade
His campaign website lists ending what it calls sweeping, erratic tariffs, which it says raise the price of imported goods and services.5
His campaign website lists keeping the federal Small Business Administration and helping ensure access to it.5
His campaign website says he is proudly pro-union and lists supporting the freedom to organize, providing avenues for union voices to be heard and supporting unions' state and federal legal efforts.5
Foreign Policy and Defense
His campaign website lists stopping the Iran war, which it calls illegal, and fixing the economic problems it says the war has created.5
His campaign website lists keeping defense funding targeted to priority needs.5
Immigration
His campaign website lists abolishing ICE, ending any use of the military to make illegal arrests, detentions or deportations, and creating a humane system of legal immigration enforcement outside the Department of Homeland Security.5
- Abolish ICE and move any remaining enforcement work to other agencies
- Deport only people convicted of serious crimes or who threaten national security
- Focus on people with criminal records and recent border crossers
- Deport as many people here without legal permission as possible, with or without criminal records
Guns
His campaign website lists keeping and enforcing background checks and documenting gun sales and changes in ownership of deadly weapons, and its What Freedom Means page calls for background checks on gun sales, safe gun storage and records of gun transactions.5,
His campaign website lists creating registration requirements for 3D-printed guns.5
Elections and Government Reform
His campaign website lists keeping the ID requirements that existed before this administration.5
His campaign website lists fighting attempts to ban mail-in voting.5
His campaign website lists continuing to keep the SAVE Act from passing.5
His campaign website lists stopping the administration from accessing state voting lists.5
- Give the federal government full voter lists, including private details, for eligibility checks
- Share only the voter information already open to the public, such as names and addresses
- Decline federal requests for voter list data and leave list checks to the states
His campaign website lists barring groups it describes as climate-denial organizations from spending millions of dollars on political campaigns and on lobbying Congress.5
§4Money
Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left. Outside groups that spend on their own, without coordinating with the campaign, report that too.
Reported to the Federal Election Commission for the 2025–2026 election cycle, through October 14, 2026.7
| Raised | $145,753 |
|---|---|
| Spent | $110,552 |
| Cash on hand | $35,201 |
Where the money came from
§5Financial disclosures
Why this matters: Federal candidates and members of Congress must report their assets, income, debts and outside jobs, and members must report stock trades. These filings show possible conflicts of interest.
- Candidate financial disclosure report8filed May 14, 2026
- Candidate financial disclosure report9filed May 14, 2025