Robert Onder Jr. (born January 6, 1962) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
politician and
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
from the state of
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. A
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, he is a member of the
Missouri Senate
The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two ye ...
serving the 2nd District, in the St. Charles area. He was elected Assistant Majority Floor Leader in 2015. Onder previously was a member of the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
from 2007 to 2008.
Personal life
Onder attended
St. Louis University High School, graduating in 1980. Onder attended
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
for his undergraduate degree, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Economics. Onder subsequently graduated from
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with ...
, and is a physician specializing in allergy and asthma care. He later graduated from
Saint Louis University School of Law
Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fr ...
. He and his wife Allison have six children; Robert, Elizabeth, Michael, Joseph, Christine, and Peter. Onder has recently obtained his Pilot’s license.
Political campaigns
Onder served a single term in the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
from 2007 to 2008, having been elected in 2006.
In 2008, Onder left the state legislature to run for the US House in
Missouri's 9th congressional district
Missouri's 9th congressional district was a US congressional district, dissolved in 2013, that last encompassed rural Northeast Missouri, the area known as " Little Dixie," along with the larger towns of Columbia, Fulton, Kirksville and Unio ...
, where incumbent
Kenny Hulshof
Kenneth C. "Kenny" Hulshof (; born May 22, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who represented in the United States House of Representatives. He was the unsuccessful nominee of the Republican Party for Governor of Missouri in the 2008 el ...
was not seeking re-election. Onder distinguished himself as one of the more fiscally conservative candidates, emphasizing his free-market voting record in the Missouri House and earning the endorsement of the
Club for Growth
The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) conservative organization active in the United States, with an agenda focused on cutting taxes and other economic policy issues. Club for Growth's largest funders are the billionaires Jeff Yass and Richard U ...
. Onder ultimately lost the Republican primary election to
Blaine Luetkemeyer
William Blaine Luetkemeyer ( ; born May 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Luetkemeyer formerly served as a member of the Missouri House of ...
.
In 2014, Onder ran for the Missouri Senate in the 2nd district, defeating
Chuck Gatschenberger and
Vicki Schneider in the Republican primary. No Democrats ran for the seat, so this primary victory was
tantamount to election
A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinati ...
. Onder ran for reelection in 2018 and defeated his Democratic challenger to earn a second term.
In 2022, Onder is running in the Republican primary for Saint Charles County Executive. He withdrew from the Republican primary on June 7, 2022.
State House of Representatives career
Immigration reform
In 2008, Onder authored and sponsored HB 1549, a piece of legislation that was described as "some of the strongest legislation in the country to fight illegal immigration" by Missouri Republicans. The bill forbade the creation of sanctuary cities in Missouri, allowed for cancellation of state contracts for contractors if they hired illegal immigrants, and required public agencies to verify the legal status of immigrants before providing welfare benefits. Additionally the bill criminalized the transportation of immigrants for exploitative purposes. The bill passed the State House and Senate with strong support and was signed into law by
Matt Blunt
Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American former naval officer and politician who served as the 54th Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. Before his election as governor, Blunt served ten years in the United States Navy, was e ...
.
Abortion
Onder also sponsored legislation that would have strengthened Missouri's informed consent before abortion statute, including requiring abortion clinics to allow women the opportunity to view an ultrasound of the fetus. The bill also would have criminalized coercing a woman to have an abortion through abuse, violence or threats. The bill passed the State House by a vote of 112-33 but died after a filibuster in the State Senate.
State Senate career
Leadership
In his first year in the Senate, Onder was elected to Senate leadership as Assistant Majority Floor Leader. In 2017 he became the Chairman of the General Laws Committee.
Additionally, he serves as Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence. In 2016, Onder attended the
2016 Republican National Convention after his selection as a Trump delegate as part of the Missouri delegation.
Caucus membership
Onder was a founding member of the Missouri Senate's Conservative Caucus. The Conservative Caucus's top issues include regulatory reform, tort reform, health care reform, abortion, and gun rights.
Social issues
In 2016, Onder introduced Senate Joint Resolution 39, a proposed amendment to the
Missouri Constitution
The Missouri Constitution is the state constitution of the U.S. State of Missouri. It is the supreme law formulating the law and government of Missouri, subject only to the federal Constitution, and the people. The fourth and current Missouri ...
that would prevent the state from penalizing businesses in the wedding industry that refuse to participate in same-sex weddings. This bill passed the Senate over a Democratic filibuster, but failed to make it out of committee in the House.
Onder was an outspoken supporter of HB 1562, a bill that expanded the crime of sex trafficking to include the advertisement of minors for prostitution or pornography.
Onder is strongly pro-life, he was the original author of legislation that requires annual, unannounced state inspections of abortion clinics; bars clinics from instructing ambulances to silence their sirens or turn their lights off; mandates that pathologists do more tests of fetal tissue; enacts whistleblower protections for employees of abortion clinics; and exempts pregnancy resource centers from a St. Louis ordinance barring discrimination over reproductive choices. Onder's bill received a few significant changes, such as changing the pathologist deadline from 24 hours to five days, and became Senate Bill 5, with a new sponsor in
Senator Andrew Koenig. The bill was strengthened and passed by the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
, then passed by a vote of 22-9 in the
Missouri Senate
The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two ye ...
and signed by Governor Eric Greitens.
In 2019, Onder strongly pushed for the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, a "heartbeat bill" that banned abortion at eight weeks of pregnancy or later.
[Missouri Senate Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 8 Weeks : NPR]
/ref> The bill also banned abortions due to race, sex or a diagnosis of Down syndrome. Onder expressed disappointment that some of the bill's provisions were weakened, but still supported the final bill. The Missouri Senate passed the bill 24-10, and was subsequently passed by the house. The bill was signed into law by Governor Mike Parson
Michael Lynn Parson (born September 17, 1955) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of Missouri since 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Parson served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011 and in the ...
.
Ethics
Onder also advocated for ethics reform, sponsoring and handling legislation that called for a "cooling off period" between when Missouri legislators leave office and when they can become lobbyists. Onder said that public service "is not supposed to be our pathway job into a lucrative lobbying job." Additionally, Onder sponsored a bill that would have banned gifts from lobbyists to legislators in Missouri.
Labor reform
Onder supported legislation that would have made Missouri the 28th Right-to-Work state. The bill passed through Onder's General Laws Committee before being sent to the Senate floor. While the bill was signed into law by Eric Greitens, it was later repealed by ballot initiative.
Onder authored SB 182, a bill that banned union-only project labor agreements in Missouri. The bill was signed into law by Governor Greitens.
In 2018, Onder handled HB 1413, a landmark public union bill that created transparency and accountability to protect the rights of Missouri public sector unions. Onder passed the bill through the Senate and HB 1413 was signed into law.
Economic issues
In 2017, Onder was the Senate handler for HB 130, a bill that creates a statewide regulatory framework for transportation networking companies. The bill passed with overwhelming support by a vote of 144-7 in the House and by 30-1 in the Senate. Missouri Governor Eric Greitens
Eric Robert Greitens (; born April 10, 1974) is a former American politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety.
Born a ...
signed the bill into law.
In 2019, Onder introduced bills aimed at deregulating the Missouri economy. One of Onder's bills would only require cars 10 years old or older and 150,000 miles to be inspected, as opposed to 5 year old cars as under current law. Onder claimed the inspection requirement is a waste of time and money for citizens. "It disrupts the single mom, the senior citizens, the working parents day and their week these unnecessary and costly inspections," Onder stated.
Onder worked to defeat a proposed HMO tax in 2019. On his opposition to the tax, Onder stated: "Two of my most important promises to my constituents when I ran for Senate were to fight the rising costs of health care for businesses and their employees, and to oppose tax increases. So when a new health insurance tax was proposed by my own party, I was obligated to oppose it, regardless of political cost." Due to the opposition of Onder and other senators, the HMO tax proposal was removed.
In 2020, Onder introduced SB 560, a bill that would grant state licensing reciprocity to nonresident military spouses. While testifying in favor of his bill before the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Onder declared: "military spouses do not lose their knowledge or skills as they cross state lines in the service to their country. This is the least we can do for these heroes and their families."
Second Amendment
In 2019, Onder introduced legislation to allow people with concealed carry permits to bring a firearm onto public transit. Onder cited safety concerns and problems of crime on public transit. Onder said that the current law prevents "the right of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves." The bill did not pass that session, so Onder refiled it for the 2020 legislative session.
Committee assignments (2019 - 2021)
* Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy & the Environment
* Education
* Health and Pensions, Chairman
* Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence, (Vice-Chairman)
* Ways and Means
* Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
* Joint Committee on Public Assistance
* Joint Committee on Tax Policy
* Select Committee on Redistricting
* Task Force on Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Committee assignments (2017 - 2019)
* Health and Pensions (Chairman)
* Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence (Vice-Chairman)
* Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy & the Environment
* Education
* Ways and Means
* Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
* Joint Committee on Tax Policy
Legislative awards and other honors
Onder has won several awards during his time in the Missouri Senate, including
*2015 Missouri Academy of Family Physicians Award
*2015 Missouri Centurion Award
*2015 Missouri Alliance for Freedom Champion of Freedom Award
*2015 Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry Freshman of the Year Award
*2016 American Conservative Union Conservative Excellence Award
*2016 Missouri Family Policy Council Missouri Family Champion Award
*2016 Missouri Dental Association Legislative Excellence Award
*2017 Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Legislative Champion Award
*2017 Missouri Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Enterprise Award
*2018 American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...
Legislator of the Week Award
*2019 Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association Award
*2020 Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Legislative Champion Award
*2020 American Conservative Union Award for Conservative Excellence
Electoral history
References
External links
Official government website
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onder, Bob
1962 births
21st-century American politicians
Living people
Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives
Republican Party Missouri state senators
People from Lake St. Louis, Missouri
Physicians from Missouri
Saint Louis University School of Law alumni
Washington University School of Medicine alumni
Washington University in St. Louis alumni