Richard Ray Brattin Jr. (born July 22, 1980) is an American politician serving as a Republican state senator from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, representing the 31st district, composing of Cass, Bates, Barton, Henry, and Vernon counties. He is a former state representative, having served three terms in the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

. He represented Missouri's 55th Legislative District, which encompasses several suburbs of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

in Cass County, including Raymore, Peculiar, and

Lake Winnebago Lake Winnebago (, , ) is a shallow freshwater lake in the north central United States, located in east central Wisconsin. At , it is the largest lake entirely within the state, covering an area of about by with of shoreline, an average depth ...

. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Corrections and Consumer Affairs committees.

Early life and military career

Brattin was born on July 22, 1980. He was raised in Greenwood, Missouri, and is a graduate of

Lee's Summit High School Lee's Summit High School is a high school in Lee's Summit, Missouri, United States. It is located near downtown Lee's Summit on Blue Parkway, next to the intersection of U.S. Route 50 in Missouri, U.S. Route 50 and Missouri Route 291, Route 291 ...

. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, he joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. He rose through the ranks and became a sergeant after six years. He was elected to the

in 2010.

Issues

Abortion

In December 2014, Brattin proposed legislation that would require women seeking

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s in Missouri to obtain written consent from the father of the fetus, except in cases of "legitimate rape." Brattin cited his own recent

vasectomy Vasectomy is an elective surgical procedure that results in male sterilization, often as a means of permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into ...

as his inspiration for the legislation. In Feb 2024, while debating an amendment to allow abortions for rape or incest, Brattin advocated that a rape victim be forced to carry the rapist's fetus to term. He indicated supporting the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for rapists, and suggested that the resulting baby, "by God’s grace, may even be the greatest healing agent you need in which to recover from such an atrocity."

Drones

In 2025, Brattin sponsored legislation to ban law enforcement agencies from purchasing Chinese drones. Representatives from the Law Enforcement Drone Association and first responder groups opposed the bill. Testimonies ranged from suggestions that the bill serves lobbyists for American drone manufacturers, to detailed explanations on the security measures for drone operations.

Education

In 2013, Brattin sponsored legislation that would afford equal treatment in textbooks for intelligent design and evolution. In January 2017, Brattin proposed a bill to end

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

in public universities in Missouri. The bill would also "require public colleges to publish estimated costs of degrees, employment opportunities expected for graduates, average salaries of previous graduates, and a summary of the job market, among other things."

Election

In 2025, Brattin sponsored a bill to increase Secretary of State authority in crafting ballot language. The previous year, a judge struck down

Jay Ashcroft John Robert "Jay" Ashcroft (born July 12, 1973) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 40th Secretary of State of Missouri from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he is the son of former U.S. Attorney General Joh ...

's description of a voter-initiated petition following a lawsuit from the drafters. ''The Labor Tribune'' described the bill as the "Let Politicians Lie Act."

Free speech

In 2015, in response to a protest by the University of Missouri football team related to campus discrimination, Brattin proposed a bill that would strip a college athlete of their scholarship if the athlete "calls, incites, supports or participates in any strike or concerted refusal to play a scheduled game." In 2021, the state senator proposed a bill that would target unlawful assemblies, including the use of deadly force against protesters on private property.

Homosexuality

In 2017, Brattin made a statement on the Missouri House floor that "When you look at the tenets of religion, of the Bible, of the Qur’an, of other religions, there is a distinction between homosexuality and just being a human being." The Kansas City Star called his position intolerant and said in an editorial, "The statement, made on the Missouri House floor, was deplorable. It betrayed a stunning lack of understanding of theology and self-government: The Constitution protects all Americans from the tyranny of any single faith-based approach to secular law."

Medicaid

In 2024, Brattin participated in a 25 hour filibuster of taxes necessary to fund

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

, citing his concerns about abortion, which is already illegal in Missouri. Republicans

Lincoln Hough Lincoln Hough (/ˈlɪŋkən hʌf/; born June 17, 1982) is an American politician. He was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2010, where he served three terms. He served as Greene County Commissioner from 2016 to 2018. In Nov ...

and

Mike Parson Michael Lynn Parson (born September 17, 1955) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer who served as the 57th List of governors of Missouri, governor of Missouri, from 2018 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...

described the act as "pathetic political gamesmanship" and "deliberate dysfunction."

Religious freedom

In 2025, Brattin interrupted a minister's testimony and cut time to other religious leaders who described a bill requiring the display of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

in schools as government overreach.

Welfare

In February 2015, Brattin introduced Missouri House Bill 813, reading "A recipient of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits shall not use such benefits to purchase cookies, chips, energy drinks, soft drinks, seafood, or steak."

Defamation lawsuit

In April 2024, Brattin was sued for defamation by Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, after Brattin posted a picture of Loudermill in handcuffs on social media, falsely identifying him as an undocumented immigrant and as a "shooter" at the 2024 Kansas City parade shooting. At a news conference in February 2024, Brattin stated that he and others who shared false information about the shooting had nothing to apologize for.

Electoral history

State representative

State Senate

U.S. Representative

Personal life

Brattin is married and has five children.Cheryl Chumley, Missouri politico pushes law to make women get men’s OK for abortion, Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/18/rick-brattin-pushes-law-to-force-men-OK-abort/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brattin, Rick 1980 births Living people Republican Party Missouri state senators Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives People from Greenwood, Missouri People from Harrisonville, Missouri Lee's Summit High School alumni 21st-century members of the Missouri General Assembly