He favors making President Bush’s tax cuts permanent, remaining in Iraq and increasing border security. He opposes abortion and embryonic stem cell research and strongly supports a national sales tax.

In the 1st District, incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay, a Democrat, is being challenged by Libertarian Robb Cunningham, who wants to pursue reforms consistent with his party’s principles.

Clay, 52, has held the seat that includes parts of St. Louis city and county since his election in 2000.

As chair of a House subcommittee that oversees the Census Bureau, Clay has worked to eliminate the undercount of minorities in the 2010 national census. After that national count, Missouri is almost certain to lose a congressional seat, and Clay’s and Rep. Russ Carnahan’s could be in jeopardy when district lines are redrawn.

“Everything will change,” said James Endersby, University of Missouri associate professor of political science.

“Districts will be redrawn in a substantial way and one will disappear ... in and around St. Louis.”

A Democrat and Libertarian are trying to unseat Republican Todd Akin in the 2nd District, a Republican stronghold that includes St. Louis County’s western suburbs, part of St. Charles County and all of Lincoln County in eastern Missouri.

Akin, elected to Congress in 2000, gets high marks from conservative groups.

His Democratic challenger, Bill Haas, a 63-year-old lawyer and former St. Louis school board member, said he would outlaw mail-in rebates as his first order of business in Congress.

He said he would also like to take a leadership role in solving the problem of nursing homes evicting unruly elderly, a phenomenon recently identified in the Wall Street Journal.

Libertarian challenger, Tom Knapp, 41, of Greendale, a Gulf War veteran, calls himself “the left-most candidate in a right-leaning district.”

In the 3rd District, which includes parts of St. Louis city and county, as well as all of Jefferson and Ste. Genevieve counties, incumbent Russ Carnahan has three challengers: Republican Chris Sander, Libertarian Kevin Babcock, and Constitution Party candidate Cynthia Redburn, all from the St. Louis area.

Carnahan’s recent work has focused on health care, the mortgage crisis and stabilizing the economy.

Sander, a businessman, wants to cut taxes, reduce government, and strengthen the military. Redburn, a retired teacher and John Birch Society member, is a proponent of gun ownership and home schooling. Babcock does not have a Web site.

Endersby said the Libertarian and Constitution parties are running candidates to remain legitimate but have no chance of winning in Missouri.