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Onder led his nearest opponent — former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia, 47% to 37%, in final unofficial returns. Five other GOP candidates were further back.

Onder is now heavily favored to defeat Democratic nominee Bethany Mann in the strongly Republican district.  

Onder and Schaefer had the most campaign money, TV ads and organized support in the GOP race in the sprawling 3rd District, which includes parts of St. Charles, Jefferson and Warren counties and stretches west to the Lake of the Ozarks area.

Onder, 62, and Schaefer, 58, both emphasized their conservative records and stands on current issues.

Onder got a boost in recent weeks when he was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who easily carried Missouri in the past two presidential elections and is the party's nominee again. 

Onder, in a statement late Tuesday night, thanked Trump and said his endorsement "put our campaign over the top."

Onder said Trump knows he was the "America First candidate in this race" and the best candidate to help him in office next year.

Schaefer, meanwhile, was backed by the 3rd District incumbent, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, whose decision to not seek another term had set off the high-spending match. 

This was the second congressional run for Onder. He finished second to Luetkemeyer in the GOP primary in 2008, the year Luetkemeyer won his first U.S. House term.

A key to Onder's primary win on Tuesday was dominating his home county of St. Charles, where he defeated Schaefer, 64% to 22%. Onder won by similar lopsided amounts in the two other ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area counties partly in the district, Jefferson and Warren.

Schaefer carried the rest of the district but his edge over Onder there wasn't as large.

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, who wrote a book on the county's history, said Onder — or Mann, if she pulls off an upset win in November — would be the first resident of the county to ever serve in the U.S. House.

Onder, a physician, served two years in the Missouri House and eight in the state Senate, leaving in 2022 because of term limits. He announced a run that year for county executive, then decided against it.

This year he had planned to run for lieutenant governor but switched to the Congressional race when Luetkemeyer announced his pending retirement.

Schaefer, a lawyer, also served eight years in the state Senate. In 2016 he lost to Josh Hawley in the GOP primary for the party nomination for attorney general; Hawley is now a U.S. senator.

Before his time in the Legislature, Schaefer was general counsel and deputy director for the state Department of Natural Resources.

In the 3rd District Democratic primary, Mann, a chemist from St. Peters, handily defeated Andrew Daly of Fulton. Mann, 41, also was the Democratic nominee in 2022 and was trounced by Luetkemeyer.

There also will be a 3rd District Libertarian candidate in November — Jordan Rowden of Vienna.

Wagner, Hartmann win in 2nd

In the 2nd U.S. House district, Republican Rep. Ann Wagner and Democrat Ray Hartmann won big victories in their respective primaries and will face off in November.

Final unofficial returns showed Wagner with a 65% to 35% lead over her little-known GOP primary opponent, Peter Pfeifer.

Wagner, 61, of Town and Country, is seeking her seventh two-year term. 

Hartmann, 71, of Richmond Heights, defeated Chuck Summers, 61, a retired union plumber from south ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, in the Democratic primary. Hartmann is the former owner of the Riverfront Times, which was a weekly newspaper.

Also on the ballot will be Libertarian Party nominee Brandon Daugherty of O'Fallon.

The GOP-leaning district is rooted in south and west ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County and also takes in parts of St. Charles and Warren counties and all of Franklin County.

Updated at 2:20 p.m. Friday