The district increased the margin for Republicans in 2012 when former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) gained 65.88% of the vote over President Barack Obama's 31.99%.

The incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson resigned on January 22, 2013 to take a position as CEO for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Missouri lost one of its nine congressional district seats following redistricting based on population numbers from the 2010 U.S. census.

In presidential elections, Democratic candidates formerly performed best in the Bootheel, an agricultural area that is the most impoverished region in the district (and the state, for that matter).

Democrats also used to do well in the Lead Belt region, which contains a core constituency of voters who belong to labor unions, particularly in the mining industry.

This influence is demonstrated in conservative voters' positions on social issues such as abortion, gay rights and gun control.

Many voters here maintain a rural lifestyle where agriculture and farming are the backbone of the economy and are important issues of concern.