He's Transformed Himself From Mild-Mannered Pastor to Extremist. He's Also Running Unopposed.

He is the Missouri Chair for ALEC, has written guns everywhere legislation, anti-DEI bills, and anti-trans bills, and he has no Democratic opponent. Meet Ben Baker.

Is he former military? Nope. Former law enforcement? Not a chance. Please tell me he is a former National Guard member? No. This is cosplay Commando, Ben Baker.

Baker is a lay minister and a Missouri GOP State Representative running unopposed—just like he did in 2022.

Ben Baker, photo posted to X, Feb 3, 2023

In this photo, Representative Baker is holding what looks like a modified AR with add-ons like a suppressor and a 30 round drum magazine while wearing a Banshee plate carrier (body armor.)

Why did Baker take this photo and post it to his social media last year. Well, friends, because he thinks guns are cool, thereby making him look cool, and he was planning to shoot a Chinese spy balloon out of the air…60k feet in the air. He captioned the photo, “That grin when you hear there’s a Chinese spy balloon floating by.”

I’m not sure if he understands the capability of the equipment he’s posing with—and I do mean posing. But, on to more pressing issues…Baker writes some of the worst legislation in the state. And, by writes, I mean he seems to be filing pre-written bills handed to him by the dark money group ALEC.

Ben Baker is the Missouri State Chair for ALEC.

According the the site Alec Exposed, “through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. These so-called "model bills" reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit huge corporations.”

In ALEC's own words, corporations have "a voice and a vote" on specific changes to the law that are then proposed in our state.

Whoa…you mean some Missouri lawmakers aren’t writing their own bills and the bills they are submitting come from corporate donors who have no interest in the lives of Missourians? Yuuuuup.

Representative Ben Baker, 2018

A 2023 bill from Rep. Ben Baker would have restricted the use of diversity (DEI) materials and training for universities, med schools and licensing boards, in addition to hiring consultants for DEI purposes. His bill mirrors others in several other GOP-led states with ALEC members filing nearly identical bills.

In written opposition to the bill, a Mizzou Medical student stated, “This bill would prevent critical discussion on the impact that health disparities have on our future patients, and in doing so, produce physicians that are less competent in providing care to people that are often overlooked and underserved by our current healthcare system. By limiting the scope of topics our education is able to cover, I will be significantly less well prepared than students from other institutions who learn about the social determinants of health and therefore, lack the knowledge of how to recognize and address these barriers to care. I want to be a physician that is confident of my ability to provide care effectively and compassionately to patients of all backgrounds, and this bill would make this much more difficult.”

Ultimately, the bill died in the House, but Baker did dress it up for another run this year. That’s the thing about ALEC—they have all the time and money to keep chipping away at our rights.

A particularly painful exchange in a hearing over a bill Baker had filed occurred last session with Representative Peter Merideth. The bill was to ban care for trans kids with Baker removing language that would have allowed for care if a child was in immediately danger of death or losing a vital organ.

Merideth asked Baker why he would remove language that would give a child life-saving treatment and Baker could not answer. He couldn’t even find the line of the deleted language. Even when pointed to the exact line, he could not answer why he deleted it. The clip lasts over two minutes with much of it in silence as Baker tries to come up with the words to explain away the unexplainable…he didn’t write the bill and he didn’t delete the lines.

Here is the video provided by Laura Burkhardt.

Before this post turns into a book I never wanted to write on a right-wing extremist, I’m going to post a few of the bills Baker has filed this year that have similarly been filed in other red states with an out-sized ALEC influence:

HB 1848—Forces loaded guns into churches

HB 2160—Creates a “Parents' Bill of Rights”

HB 2569—Prohibits state departments from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

HB 2830—Creates provisions relating to the definition of reproductive health care (anti-trans bill)

Ben Baker is a partisan radical who files bills to harm trans folks, public school kids, women, and people of color. He has no business filing any of these bills as he is not an expert in any of those areas. Ben is a white man who worked as a missionary and owns a woodworking shop. He is filing bills that impact medical schools for goodness sake.

Worst of all, Baker does not have a Democratic opponent so far and he didn’t have one in 2022. He’s taking away the rights of Missourians without a care in the world. He can be as extreme as he’d like—there are no consequences to lawmakers who do harm when they are not opposed. They quite literally don’t care.

I will continue to scream this from the mountaintops: Missouri is not red. Missouri is uncontested.

~Jess