Three years ago, first-time candidate for Missouri’s 7th Congressional District Audrey Richards found difficulty running as a write-in, independent candidate during a global pandemic when many hopefuls did not hold in-person events.

This year, Richards is one of two women running as a Republican to win the seat that Billy Long has held since 2010. Richards says she learned a lot from that first campaign,

“I will say that the biggest change for me was when I began my campaign in 2019, I was very naïve about the realities of the political system. I studied it academically. I have a degree in political science, but until you’re in it and you’re running for office, you don’t quite understand everything that’s at play.”

She’s running on a platform of strengthening public education, addressing climate change, and limiting foreign ownership of large farms in the US.

The final day to register to vote for the primary is July 6. And primary day in Missouri is Tuesday, August 2.