Summary
Mark “Awful” Alford’s upcoming August 2025 town hall tour is set to skip nine Missouri-4 counties. When I’m elected, I’ll hold open town halls in all 24 counties every year—no excuses.
By Ricky Dana, Candidate for US House, Missouri-4
He will tour 15 counties—and skip nine
In late August 2025, Congressman Mark “Awful” Alford is scheduled to launch a four-day, 15-county town hall tour across Missouri’s 4th District. His public schedule lists stops in Cass, Bates, Vernon, Dade, Polk, Hickory, Camden, Laclede, Pulaski, Morgan, Benton, Boone (part), Howard, Saline, and Lafayette.
That means nine Missouri-4 counties will have no stop at all—no Q&A, no listening session, no town hall. For a district as spread out and rural as ours, those omissions will matter.
The nine counties left out
Based on the official county makeup of Missouri’s 4th District, the 2025 tour will skip:
- Barton County
- Cedar County
- Dallas County
- Henry County
- Jackson County (MO-4 portion)
- Johnson County
- Pettis County
- St. Clair County
- Webster County (MO-4 portion)
If you live in one of these counties, you will not get a stop on the 2025 tour. That is not how representation should work.
Why this will matter for rural Missouri
Showing up is the minimum standard for public service. Rural communities often face longer drives to hospitals, fewer broadband options, and tighter local budgets. When a Member of Congress skips towns and counties, residents lose face-to-face time to raise concerns about farms, clinics, veterans’ services, flood control, and small business needs. You deserve to be heard where you live—not just online, not just by form letter, and not just when it is politically convenient.
My commitment: every county, every year
When I am elected as your congressman, I will hold open town halls in all 24 counties that make up Missouri’s 4th—no exceptions. Here is how we will make it work for real people:
- Every-county schedule: Publish a rolling calendar that guarantees at least one in-person town hall per county, per year.
- Accessible times and places: Rotate daytime and evening events; choose ADA-accessible public venues.
- Livestream + archive: Broadcast every town hall and post recordings with summaries so folks who cannot attend still get answers.
- Advance notice: Announce dates early and coordinate with local radio, newspapers, and community boards.
- Follow-through: After each meeting, publish a short report on what we heard and what we are doing about it.
Accountability starts with showing up. I will be there—county by county—because that is the job.
Sources:
Alford Announces August Town Hall Tour Schedule (Press Release, July 25, 2025)
Missouri’s 4th Congressional District — county list
U.S. Census Bureau — Missouri District 4 (118th Congress) map (PDF)
Missouri House — 4th District redistricting map (PDF)
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