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Early life, education, and career

Graves is a lifelong resident of Tarkio, a small city in Missouri's northwestern corner, not far from the Iowa and Nebraska borders.² He is the son of Janice A. (née Hord) and Samuel Bruce Graves. He graduated from the University of Missouri College of Agriculture with a degree in agronomy.³ He is a member of the Alpha Gamma Sigma fraternity.⁴

Personal life

Graves is a general aviation pilot. He owns a Piper PA-11 Cub Special, is restoring a Beech AT-10, and co-owns a North American T-6 Texan and a Vultee BT-13 Valiant. Gould Peterson Municipal Airport is named after his uncle, an aviator, and is on his family's farm.⁵⁶⁷ Graves is a Baptist.⁸

Missouri legislature

Graves was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1992.⁹ After one term, he was elected to the Missouri Senate in 1994 and reelected in 1998.¹⁰

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chair)
  • As Chair of the Committee, Rep. Graves is entitled to sit as an ex officio member in any subcommittee meeting per the committee's rules.

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Cement Caucus
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption¹¹
• United States–China Working Group¹²

Political positions

Financial bailouts

After the September 2008 economic crisis, Graves voted against the proposed bailout of United States financial system, claiming it "neither 'punished the wrongdoers nor adequately protected the innocent taxpayers, investors and retirees' caught in the Wall Street banking crisis."¹³ In January 2014, Graves introduced the TRICARE Family Improvement Act. The bill would allow dependents of military members to stay on their parents' TRICARE health plan after turning age 26. The bill would change current law, which requires those dependents to change to a separate health plan after turning 26.¹⁴ The American Conservative Union gave him an 85% evaluation in 2017. As of 2019, Graves has a 4% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters.¹⁵

Boeing 737 MAX crashes

Graves blamed on May 13, 2019, at the House Aviation subcommittee hearing, the 737 MAX crashes (Lion Air Flight 610) on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302) on poor training of the Indonesian and Ethiopian pilots. He stated also that "pilots trained in the U.S. would have been successful" in handling the emergencies on both jets.¹⁶¹⁷ One month earlier the FAA had issued the Boeing 737 MAX groundings.

Israel

Graves voted to support Israel following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.¹⁸¹⁹

Todd Graves controversy

Graves is the brother of Todd Graves, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.²⁰ In October 2008, U.S. Senator Kit Bond apologized to Todd Graves after a U.S. Justice Department report cited Bond forcing Graves out over a disagreement with Representative Graves.²¹ Following the report, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor to investigate whether former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law (dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy).²²

Ethics investigation

In 2009, the House Ethics Committee began an inquiry into whether Graves used his position on the Small Business Committee to invite Brooks Hurst, a longtime friend and a business partner of his wife, to testify at a committee hearing on the federal regulation of biodiesel and ethanol production. Graves had failed to mention the financial link between his wife and Hurst at the hearing, which dealt with federal subsidies for renewable fuels. A review by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics found "substantial reason to believe that an appearance of conflict of interest was created."²³ Graves said in a statement, "I look forward to a quick review of the facts and answering any questions that the committee may have. I believe that a speedy review will show that all the rules of the House concerning testimony in front of the Small Business Committee were followed."²⁴ The Office of Congressional Ethics referred the case to the House Ethics committee, which ended its own investigation in October, and released a report finding no ethical violations, as it asserted there was no standard in place for appearances like Hurst's.²⁵²⁶

Political campaigns

Before his congressional career, Graves served eight years in the Missouri General Assembly, winning election to the Missouri House of Representatives once, and to the Missouri Senate twice.

In 2000, Democratic U.S. Representative Pat Danner suddenly retired due to breast cancer. Graves filed within the short period of time left for filing. He faced Danner's son, Steve Danner, a former state senator, in the general election. Graves called Danner as a "tax and spend liberal" and won the race with 51% of the vote,²⁷ largely by running up huge margins in the district's rural areas. He was arguably helped by George W. Bush carrying the district in the 2000 presidential election, a theory known as the coattail effect.

1992

1992 Election for Missouri House of Representatives 4th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	7,837	56.48%
	Democratic	Everett W. Brown	6,038	43.52%
Total votes			13,875	100%

1994

1994 Election for Missouri Senate 12th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	35,221	60.61%
	Democratic	Doug R. Hughes	22,888	39.31%
Total votes			58,109	100%

1998

1998 Election for Missouri Senate 12th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	31,883	62.69%
	Democratic	Beth M. Wheeler	18,974	37.31%
Total votes			50,857	100%

2000

2000 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	30,014	68.05
	Republican	Teresa Anne Loar	7,493	16.99
	Republican	Jeff Bailey	4,575	10.37
	Republican	John Dady	1,122	2.54
	Republican	Jack C. DeSalms	901	2.04
Total votes			44,105	100
General election
	Republican	Sam Graves	138,925	50.85
	Democratic	Steve Danner	127,792	46.78
	Libertarian	Jimmy Dykes	3,696	1.35
	Natural Law	Marie Richey	2,788	1.02
Total votes			273,201	100

2002

2002 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	131,151	63.03
	Democratic	Cathy Rinehart	73,202	35.18
	Libertarian	Erik Buck	3,735	1.79
Total votes			208,088	100

2004

2004 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	196,516	63.83
	Democratic	Charles S. Broomfield	106,987	34.75
	Libertarian	Erik Buck	4,352	1.41
Total votes			307,855	100

2006

2006 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	150,882	61.64
	Democratic	Sara Jo Shettles	87,477	35.73
	Libertarian	Erik Buck	4,757	1.94
	Progressive Party	Shirley A. Yurkonis	1,679	0.69
Total votes			244,795	100

2008

See also: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Missouri § District 6

In 2008, Graves' Democratic challenger was former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes. She was the first reasonably well-financed Democrat to run in the district since Graves' initial run. Graves gained national attention early in the race for running an ad accusing Barnes of promoting "San Francisco values." Despite Barnes' roots in the district (she grew up in St. Joseph and lived in the district's share of Kansas City), Graves was reelected handily, with 59% of the vote to Barnes's 37%.

2008 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	196,526	59.43
	Democratic	Kay Barnes	121,894	36.86
	Libertarian	Dave Browning	12,279	3.71
Total votes			330,699	100

2010

See also: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Missouri § District 6

2010 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	54,566	82.46%
	Republican	Christopher Ryan	11,608	17.53%
Total votes			66,174	100
General election
	Republican	Sam Graves	154,103	69.44
	Democratic	Clint Hylton	67,762	30.54
	Write-In	Kyle Yarber	47	0.02
Total votes			221,912	100

2012

2012 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	59,388	80.33%
	Republican	Christopher Ryan	9,945	13.45%
	Republican	Bob Gough	4,598	6.22%
Total votes			73,931	100
General election
	Republican	Sam Graves	216,906	65.00
	Democratic	Kyle Yarber	108,503	32.52
	Libertarian	Russ Monchil	8,279	2.48
Total votes			333,688	100

2014

2014 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	124,616	66.65
	Democratic	Bill Hedge	55,157	29.50
	Libertarian	Russ Monchil	7,197	3.85

2016

2016 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	238,388	68.0
	Democratic	David Blackwell	98,588	28.4
	Libertarian	Russ Monchil	8,123	2.3
	Green	Mike Diel	4,241	1.2

2018

2018 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	199,796	65.4
	Democratic	Henry Martin	97,660	32.0
	Libertarian	Dan Hogan	7,953	2.6

2020

2020 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	258,709	67.1
	Democratic	Gena Ross	118,926	30.8
	Libertarian	Jim Higgins	8,144	2.1

2022

2022 Election for U.S. Representative of Missouri's 6th Congressional District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves	184,865	70.3
	Democratic	Henry Martin	72,253	27.5
	Libertarian	Edward A (Andy) Maidment	5,774	2.2

2024

2024 Election for U.S. Representative for Missouri's 6th congressional district

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Graves (incumbent)	265,210	70.7
	Democratic	Pam May	100,999	26.9
	Libertarian	Andy Maidment	5,919	1.6
	Green	Mike Diel	3,058	0.8
Total votes			375,186	100.0
	Republican hold

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sam Graves. Wikiquote has quotations related to Sam Graves.

• Congressman Sam Graves official U.S. House website
• Sam Graves for Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart

References

1. https://www.axios.com/2024/12/03/sam-graves-transportation-committee-waiver https://www.axios.com/2024/12/03/sam-graves-transportation-committee-waiver ↩

2. "Meet Sam". Congressman Sam Graves. December 3, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2018. https://graves.house.gov/about ↩

3. "Meet Sam". Congressman Sam Graves. December 3, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2018. https://graves.house.gov/about ↩

4. "Greek Political Leaders | North-American Interfraternity Conference". nicindy.org. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20170913135053/http://nicindy.org/about/notable-fraternity-alumni/political-leaders/ ↩

5. "AOPA Q&A with US Rep. Sam Graves". aopa.org. March 6, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2022. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/march/06/aopa-q-and-a-with-us-rep-sam-graves ↩

6. Matthew Murray (November 6, 2007). "Federal Cash Rebuilds Airstrip Near Graves' Land - Roll Call". Roll Call. Retrieved August 9, 2022. https://rollcall.com/2007/11/06/federal-cash-rebuilds-airstrip-near-graves-land/ ↩

7. Shiner, Linda (March 2014). "Aviation's Man in Washington". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved August 9, 2022. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/aviations-man-washington-180949508/ ↩

8. "Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress" (PDF). PEW Research Center. Retrieved May 13, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/PF_2023.01.03_congress_LIST.pdf ↩

9. "Our Campaigns - MO State House 004 Race - Nov 03, 1992". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved June 15, 2020. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=447273 ↩

10. "Meet Sam". Congressman Sam Graves. December 3, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2018. https://graves.house.gov/about ↩

11. "Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute". https://www.ccainstitute.org ↩

12. "Our Mission". U.S.-China Working Group. Retrieved February 26, 2025. https://larsen.house.gov/uscwg/ ↩

13. "Graves, Boyda vote against $700B bailout in the U.S. House". The News-Press. September 30, 2008. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20080930193359/http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/sep/30/graves-boyda-vote-against-700b-bailout-us-house/ ↩

14. "Graves proposes changes to military family health coverage" Archived March 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Ripon Advance. 1/31/14. Retrieved 2/7/14. http://riponadvance.com/news/graves-proposes-changes-military-family-health-coverage/6420 ↩

15. "Check out Representative Sam Graves's Environmental Voting Record". February 17, 2021. https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/sam-graves ↩

16. "How much was pilot error a factor in the Boeing 737 MAX crashes?". The Seattle Times. May 15, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2024. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/how-much-was-pilot-error-a-factor-in-the-boeing-737-max-crashes/ ↩

17. "Blaming Dead Pilots Brought to You by Boeing". Corporate Crime Reporter. May 22, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2024. https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/blaming-dead-pilots-brought-to-you-by-boeing/ ↩

18. Demirjian, Karoun (October 25, 2023). "House Declares Solidarity With Israel in First Legislation Under New Speaker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/house-israel-vote.html ↩

19. Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (October 25, 2023). "Roll Call 528 Roll Call 528, Bill Number: H. Res. 771, 118th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved October 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023528 ↩

20. "Kit Bond apologizes for staff's role in firing of federal prosecutor". The News Leader. September 30, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2007. [dead link] http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080930/BLOGS09/80930039 ↩

21. "Kit Bond apologizes for staff's role in firing of federal prosecutor". The News Leader. September 30, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2007. [dead link] http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080930/BLOGS09/80930039 ↩

22. "Prosecutor will investigate firings of nine U.S. Attorneys". The Miami Herald. September 29, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2007.[dead link] http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/706763.html ↩

23. [1][dead link] http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1538682.html ↩

24. Margasak, Larry (September 16, 2009). "Ethics panel defers probe on Jesse Jackson Jr". Associated Press. Retrieved September 16, 2009.[dead link] https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isD4Tm-5D4OFcA0LUEPQcnltY46AD9AOHICO2 ↩

25. Larry Margasak [2] Congressional ethics report leaked, reveals names LARRY MARGASAK, October 30, 2009 Associated Press https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091030/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_leaked_ethics_report ↩

26. "Campaign Legal Center blog: Fault Ethics Committee, Not OCE". Clcblog.org. November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2010. http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120907070916/http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-303.html ↩

27. "Missouri Secretary of State". Sos.mo.gov. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20141030015836/http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=14&oid=3990&arc=1 ↩