The Democrat candidates for Missouri's 4th Congressional District are political newcomers who come to the table with complaints that current Republican congresswoman Vicky Hartzler hasn't fulfilled her promises.
Gordon Christensen retired from the University of Missouri last year with plans to run for Congress, mainly wanting to improve health care efforts, the economy, climate change and national security.
Jack Truman ran for Congress 10 years ago and is giving it another go. He did not respond to numerous requests from the News Tribune for comment. His campaign Facebook page calls for major changes in education, raising the minimum wage, bringing more jobs back to America, improving health care and promoting the right to bear arms.
He touts himself as the "underdog" from a small, rural community with no political ties or special interests. He is a former professor, national speaker and a small-business owner, according to his Facebook page.
Christensen has an extensive medical background as the former chief of staff at University Hospital in Columbia and the associate chief of staff for research and development for the Veterans Affairs. He believes there's a need to have more physicians in Congress so members have a better understanding of scientific policy.
Congress has expressed a strong distaste for the Affordable Care Act, but instead of trying to make it better, they've made efforts to repeal it entirely, he said. Congress has also been stagnant in efforts to create a vaccine for the Zika virus, instead spending weeks trying to restrict Planned Parenthood, he added.
Christensen believes Missourians need access to affordable medications and accessible health care, especially in rural areas where health centers are sometimes several hours away.
One of the core issues facing the country has been addressed by all candidates - the economy.
"We need to rebuild the middle class," Christensen said. "When I was a child, President Johnson initiated the war on poverty, and we're not winning that war," he said. "We were winning for a while, but we've slipped in recent years."
He said he would reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, which, in short, separated commercial and investment banking and was largely repealed in 1999. He also supports increasing the minimum wage and an equitable tax structure, meaning the highest earners of a society should bear the greatest tax responsibilities, according to his campaign website.
Truman holds similar views and believes the needs and values of the country need to center around the American people versus corporations, according to his Facebook page. He also supports raising the minimum wage and would like to see more jobs performed internally.
Christensen said another pressing issue is climate change, but he admitted it's difficult to run a campaign on environmental change. The effects of climate change have an immense trickle-down effect on food and land availability, he said.
In more practical terms, Christensen said his other top priority is international relations.
"Religious groups hold themselves above the laws of men and mankind, and they only answer to a law of their particular God," he said. "They have to be taken much more seriously or with more caution than even just a regular conflict with another nation."
Some members of Congress suggest barring any refugees from entering the country, but Christensen said that solution would have limited effect.
Similar to an argument against gun control - that banning guns would just keep guns away from law abiding people, not criminals - Christensen said banning refugees would keep out only the people who need to leave their countries. He believes if an organization wants to plan an attack on U.S. soil, they'll find a way to do it.
Truman said terrorists are often thought of as foreign, but there have been violent attacks in school and movie theater shootings.
GORDON CHRISTENSEN
Age: 67
Hometown: Columbia
Occupation: Professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia
Why run: "Things need to be done in health care and are not being addressed," he said. "They're very important things, and they've been discussed quite a bit. "
Previous experience: Christensen was the chief of staff at University Hospital in Columbia, and from 2008-10 was a professor and president of the university's faculty senate. His specialty is internal medicine with a sub-specialty in infectious diseases. As far as he's aware, he is the only doctor in Mid-Missouri trained in tropical medicine, he said. Prior to that he was the associate chief of staff for research and development at the Veterans' Affairs hospital and became well-known as the whistle blower who reported a nurse abusing patients.
Main issue: Being a former physician, health care is one of his top priorities, particularly providing convenient, affordable health care to everyone. The Affordable Care Act has been "unnecessarily criticized," he said - there are many in the medical field who believe it was appropriate. Ensuring everyone has health insurance ultimately saves money and removes the burden on institutions that are responsible for providing care to individuals that cannot afford to pay for treatment on their own, he said.
Family: His wife, Alice, is a clinical psychologist at the VA hospital in Columbia, and they have two adult children, Charlotte and Janara.
JACK TRUMAN
Age: Unknown
Hometown: Lamar
Occupation: Unknown
Why run: "It's terrible how our country's becoming," Truman said on his GoFundMe page. "It's becoming hell in a handbasket. And I truly believe that the American people are fed up and want people from outside of Washington that best represent the people to join government and be a change for the people."
Truman did not respond to several interview requests.
Previous experience: According to Truman's campaign Facebook page, he's a U.S. Army veteran, small-business owner, college graduate, former college professor and national public speaker.
Main issues: Truman cites education as one of his primary concerns, as well as Social Security, health care, women's rights, the right to bear arms and climate change.