| Bob Onder | |
| State Senate: | Missouri |
| District: | 2nd |
| Term Start: | January 7, 2015 |
| Term End: | January 4, 2023 |
| Predecessor: | Scott T. Rupp |
| Successor: | Nick Schroer |
| State House1: | Missouri |
| District1: | 13th |
| Term Start1: | January 3, 2007 |
| Term End1: | January 7, 2009 |
| Predecessor1: | Scott T. Rupp |
| Successor1: | Chuck Gatschenberger |
| Birth Name: | Robert Onder Jr.[1] |
| Birth Date: | 6 January 1962 |
| Birth Place: | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | Allison Onder |
| Children: | 6 |
| Education: | Washington University (BS, MD) Saint Louis University (JD) |
Robert Onder Jr. (born January 6, 1962) is an American politician and physician from the state of Missouri. A Republican, he was a member of the Missouri Senate from 2015 to 2022, 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 from 2007 to 2008.
In February 2024, he withdrew from a run for lieutenant governor and announced the launch of his campaign for Missouri's 3rd congressional district to replace retiring incumbent Blaine Luetkemeyer.[2] [3] On August 6th, he won the Republican primary and will face Democrat Bethany Mann on November 5th.[4]
Onder attended St. Louis University High School, graduating in 1980.[5] Onder attended Washington University in St. Louis for his undergraduate degree, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Economics. Onder subsequently graduated from Washington University School of Medicine,[6] and is a physician specializing in allergy and asthma care.[7] He later graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law. He and his wife Allison have six children.[8] Onder has recently obtained his Pilot’s license.[9] He is Roman Catholic.
Onder served a single term in the Missouri House of Representatives 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, where incumbent Kenny Hulshof 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.[10] Onder ultimately lost the Republican primary election to Blaine Luetkemeyer.[11]
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.[12] Onder ran for reelection in 2018 and defeated his Democratic challenger to earn a second term.[13]
In 2022, Onder announced his campaign for Saint Charles County Executive.[14] He withdrew from the Republican primary on June 7, 2022.[15]
In 2024, Onder announced his candidacy for Missouri's 3rd congressional district.
In 2008, Onder authored and sponsored HB 1549.[16] The bill forbids the creation of sanctuary cities in Missouri, allows for cancellation of state contracts for contractors who hire people illegally present in the United States, and requires public agencies to verify the legal status of immigrants before providing social service benefits.[17] 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.
Onder also sponsored legislation[8] that would have strengthened Missouri's informed consent before abortion statute, including requiring abortion clinics to allow pregnant women the opportunity to view an ultrasound of the fetus.[18] 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.
In his first year in the Senate, Onder was elected to Senate leadership as Assistant Majority Floor Leader.[19] In 2017 he became the Chairman of the General Laws Committee.[20] 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.
Onder was a founding member of the Missouri Senate's Conservative Caucus.[21] The Conservative Caucus's top issues include regulatory reform, tort reform, health care reform, abortion, and gun rights.
In 2016, Onder introduced Senate Joint Resolution 39, a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would protect wedding industry businesses that refuse to serve LGBTQIA+ couples. This bill passed the Senate over a Democratic filibuster,[22] but failed to make it out of committee in the House.[23]
Onder was an outspoken supporter of HB 1562,[24] a bill that expanded the crime of sex trafficking to include the advertisement of minors for prostitution or pornography.[25]
Onder is anti-abortion, he was the original author of legislation that requires annual, unannounced state inspections of healthcare clinics that provide reproductive healthcare; bars clinics from instructing ambulances to silence their sirens or turn their lights off; mandates that pathologists test fetal tissue; enacts whistleblower protections for employees of abortion clinics; and exempts pregnancy resource centers from a St. Louis ordinance[26] barring discrimination over reproductive choices.[27] 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,[28] with a new sponsor in Senator Andrew Koenig.[29] The bill was strengthened and passed by the Missouri House of Representatives, then passed by a vote of 22-9 in the Missouri Senate and signed by Governor Eric Greitens.[30]
In 2019, Onder strongly pushed for the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, a bill that banned abortion at eight weeks of pregnancy or later.[31] The bill also banned abortions due to race, sex or a diagnosis of Down syndrome. 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.[32]
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."[33] Additionally, Onder sponsored a bill that would have banned gifts from lobbyists to legislators in Missouri.[34]
Onder supported legislation that would have made Missouri the 28th Right-to-Work state.[35] The bill passed through Onder's General Laws Committee before being sent to the Senate floor.[36] 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.[37]
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.[38] Onder passed the bill through the Senate and HB 1413 was signed into law.[39]
In 2017, Onder was the Senate handler for HB 130,[40] 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.[41] Missouri Governor Eric Greitens signed the bill into law.[42]
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.[43]
Onder worked to defeat a proposed HMO tax in 2019.[44] 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.[45]
In 2020, Onder introduced SB 560, a bill that would grant state licensing reciprocity to nonresident military spouses.[46] 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."[47]
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."[48] The bill did not pass that session, so Onder refiled it for the 2020 legislative session.[49]
Onder has won several awards during his time in the Missouri Senate, including