One in a series of profiles of candidates for the 7th District seat in the U.S. Congress. See all the profiles and coverage here, including candidate views on key issues.
Kevin Craig, the Libertarian candidate for Missouri’s 7th Congressional District, will be back on the ballot this November for the eighth time.
His opponents on Nov. 8 in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Billy Long are Republican state Sen. Eric Burlison and Democrat Kristen Radaker Sheafer, a Joplin baker.
Craig was born in Los Angeles in 1957. He said he obtained a political science degree from the University of Southern California, later studied law and passed the California Bar Exam, but never practiced.
Craig formed the Missouri-based nonprofit Vine and Fig Tree in 1988, which takes its name and vision from Bible verses that “speak of the day we beat our ‘swords into plowshares’ and everyone dwells peacefully under his own vine and fig tree.”
Craig resides in Powersite, near Branson.
Craig is a proponent of the messages of the Founding Fathers, and seeks to defend the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
“The other candidates in this race cannot be trusted to keep the oath required of politicians to ‘support the Constitution,’ which means opposing all spending and bureaucracies which are contrary to the Constitution,” Craig said.
Craig has not filed any campaign financial activity with the Federal Election Commission. In a district where Craig has never received more than 8 percent of the vote in the general election, he stands as tough odds as ever, but nevertheless is a Libertarian candidate for voters.
“This campaign is not about capturing an office,” Craig says on his campaign website. “This campaign is about recapturing a dream.”
