In September 2023 when Missouri state representative Brad Hudson announced he would run for the state senate, local Republican leaders in Christian County began casting about for a candidate—even though the 138th District is composed of only 25% voters in Christian County, and 75% in Stone County. The announcement may have caught the local political machine off guard as they scrambled to find a candidate they would later present to the voters.“CABAL: A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by intrigue and usually without the knowledge of those who are outside their group.” Wikipedia
At the venue of Hudson’s announcement for the state senate seat, numerous attendees including Steve Stewart who was in leadership at the Christian County Missouri Republican Assembly (MRA), approached Burt Whaley and asked him to run for Hudson’s seat in the 138th District. Whaley was very active in local politics. Christian County Republican Central Committee Chair Don Carriker was present when Stewart asked Whaley to run.
A month later in early October, a local businessman, Tom Franiak, announced he would enter the Republican primary as a candidate for state representative. Even though he lost in a landslide against Whaley in 2024, Franiak is again running to unseat Whaley in 2026.
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| Stone County 2024 primary results |
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| Christian County 2024 primary results |
While Franiak asserted he had “helped put together the Young Republicans” (see the latest issues with the national Young Republicans) there seems to have been almost no political involvement before his entry into the race in 2023. He rarely, if ever attended political meetings, was not a member of any local political organizations, and apparently did not even know in which district he lived (there was recent redistricting).
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| Rep. Bob Titus |
Note that Franiak did not mention conversations with his own representative Brad Hudson or his senator Mike Moon, or Rep. Bob Titus (139th District). Titus, who is a strong conservative and well liked by his constituency, is currently facing a primary opponent in Sandy Karnes. Karnes, who is vice chair of the local central committee and the committee chairwoman of the 7th Congressional District for Christian County, recently announced a primary challenge against Rep. Titus.
Karnes was involved in helping to shut down voting of the grassroots platform at the 2024 state GOP convention. Her husband, Jack, signed one of two challenges to overturn the grassroots slate of officials who had been voted in at the convention. (Lots of background on the events surrounding the 2024 GOP Convention debacle HERE and HERE and HERE, HERE and HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE and HERE.)
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| Locke and Smith's Legiscore |
PRIMARY CHALLENGES AGAINST TWO POPULAR INCUMBENTS
Ponder for a moment why local GOP leadership would run primary opponents against respected and popular conservative incumbents like Representatives Titus and Whaley. Titus has a 100% rating with CPAC, and is ranked 7 of 163 in the Missouri House of Representatives with the conservative Locke and Smith’s 2025 Legiscore scoring. Whaley, having just finished his first term, is ranked 6 of 163 with Legiscore.
Back to Tom Franiak’s candidacy in the 2024 primary. Some time in September or early October of 2023, Rep. Gragg, central committee vice chair Sandy Karnes, and Les Overall, president of the local MRA in Christian County, interviewed Franiak as a potential candidate to replace the departing Brad Hudson. Also, and this is very important, not one of those who were involved in interviewing Tom Franiak as a candidate for the 138th District actually live in the 138th. Not Don Carriker, not Jamie Gragg, not Sandy Karnes. Yet they were the individuals advocating for one candidate right from the start.
In fact, it was central committee Chair Carriker who asked Gragg to interview Franiak as a potential candidate. Very soon after that interview, Franiak filed papers. Essentially, Christian County political leaders--independently from Stone County--promoted a candidate who would have been the only voter choice on the primary ballot if not for Burt Whaley’s decision to enter the race. Notably, Franiak was also presented as a candidate in Christian County before he was presented in Stone County.
Franiak later spoke at the Stone County MRA’s meeting in October. According to sources, Franiak announced he was doing citizens a favor by running to represent them. It was after this meeting that Burt Whaley was again approached by others and asked to consider running for the 138th District. He continued to mull it over and after prayerful consideration and discussions with Leah, his wife, he announced his candidacy on Dec. 1, 2023.
WHALEY’S LANDSLIDE VICTORY
In a video (HERE), Franiak notes he didn’t need “two months” to consider his run, but knew that God had chosen him to run. Incidentally, Burt Whaley, who did take two months in prayer and consideration, ended up winning in a landslide in both Stone and Christian counties.
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| Rep. Burt Whaley |
Whaley was also involved in local Republican politics as a founding member of the Stone County Missouri Republican Assembly (MRA) as well as interim chair of the Stone County Republican Central Committee. As interim chair, Whaley conducted the local Stone County GOP caucus in 2024.
In the same voter guide Whaley had this to say, “I visited [Brad Hudson] in Jefferson City multiple times over the last four legislative sessions. He introduced me to various legislators and staff, several of whom I have built a working relationship with...In 2022, [Congressman] Eric Burlison asked Brad and me to start a Missouri Republican Assembly (MRA) Chapter in Stone County…”
Whaley stood his ground against the internal party opposition and went on to win the election in a landslide. But what happened behind the scenes in 2023-2024 is illustrative of how state and local party politics affect who runs for office. Watch how the Texas grassroots campaign of Theodis Daniel is being systematically undercut by his own party:
Today, we filed a formal ethics complaint against the Harris County GOP for their blatant bias and unfair practices. They’ve failed to share debate locations, denied equal access to resources for Republican members, and the chair even demanded I drop out to back my opponent just… pic.twitter.com/UBSxecogDx
— Theodis Daniel For Congress (@Theodis4Texas18) October 10, 2025
I’ve stayed quiet long enough. It’s time the people know the truth.
— Theodis Daniel For Congress (@Theodis4Texas18) October 11, 2025
Cindy Siegel, the Harris County GOP Chair, personally asked me to drop out of this race because she’s friends with another candidate. That’s not leadership that’s corruption.
I’m not here to play political games… pic.twitter.com/dMPFhTAjZW
These are not isolated incidents, but are being replicated in districts all across our nation, including Missouri. The GOP establishment, which is one wing of the Uniparty that ultimately controls both sides of the aisle, is fighting to maintain dominance. Much like when the establishment infiltrated and destroyed the Tea Party, we are seeing a national attack plan to remove grassroots conservatives and replace them with establishment office holders.Tonight we break the silence.
— Theodis Daniel For Congress (@Theodis4Texas18) October 10, 2025
The people deserve to know the truth about what’s been done to this campaign the bias, the obstruction, and the improprieties inside the Harris County GOP.
We go LIVE at 7:30 PM Pacific.#TeamDanielTX18 #TruthMatters #WeThePeople #TexasStrong 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Kw2XjWgzlr
Like Texas, the Uniparty rules in Missouri. It is why a “Republican Super Majority” still manages to be “helpless” while statist and globalist policies across the state and in local areas are implemented. The Uniparty is comprised of the powerful and the rich, and those they seek to place in elected positions.
Bills introduced in the legislature are written by lawyers and lobbyists whose loyalty lies with their paymasters in business and politics. They advance the interests of the powerful and wealthy and most legislation has little to do with advancing freedom or preserving liberty. The legislative games played are for another article, however.
THE LOCAL CABAL
Back to local politics. As soon as the largely unknown Tom Franiak announced his run in Oct. 2023 (MEC papers were filed on Oct. 9), he was being promoted by the establishment. In fact, after Burt Whaley announced his candidacy he spoke with central committee Chair Don Carriker, who urged him not to run against Franiak. The exact same talking points he used were later used by other politically-aligned activists who spoke with Whaley and urged him not to run.
In fact, both Titus and Whaley were integral members of the conservative contingent called the Brave Ten, who defied the GOP establishment in Jefferson City to support Justin Sparks for House Speaker, rather than RINO Jon Patterson. And now both conservative incumbents are facing primary opponents who are closely identified with the GOP establishment.
When Carriker could not talk Whaley out of running, he asked Whaley to consider paying Franiak for his campaign costs up to that point if Franiak dropped out of the race. Whaley declined.
Again, few politically active people had heard of Tom Franiak. The first time Whaley heard of him was in Oct. 2023 when he got a call requesting he invite Franiak to the October meeting of the Stone County MRA. Also, it was Whaley who first introduced Franiak to Sen. Mike Moon at that meeting.
REPUBLICAN BONAFIDES
It is interesting to go back and note who Franiak said he regularly spoke with, including representatives Jamie Gragg and Jon Patterson, incoming speaker of the house. Who put Franiak in touch with Patterson, widely considered to be an establishment politician? One connection may be Axiom Strategies, a Republican organization that helps plan and execute campaigns for political candidates.
How and why did Christian County political leaders settle on Tom Franiak who was mostly unknown in local political circles before his announcement? He had little to no active engagement with local grassroots groups or political organizations, although he was active in community life. Franiak’s candidacy would have caused few waves, except for the way he was promoted by the local cabal over grassroots candidate Whaley. Why oppose voter choice for the best candidate when there was no incumbent?
WHEN LIFE BEGINS
At a February 13, 2024 CCMRA meeting, Franiak and Whaley both spoke. One of the questions revolved around when life begins. It became apparent that the candidates were divided. Although Franiak stated that life begins at conception, he elaborated by saying, “[Life] begins at conception, yes, for my religion. But there is no way to detect it medically so I will be very transparent here and say if Missouri was to pass a Morning After Pill I don't see it being much different than any other contraceptive, because we cannot detect a heartbeat. We cannot tell whether the cell has been divided, um, I believe that in order to be a great legislator you're going to have compromise. I can plant my feet in the ground and I can say absolutely no compromise, but we'll never win that battle. The liberals will come after you every time. So, in order to be a great legislator in Jeff City you're going to have to be open to some compromise. But one thing I will do is stand up here and tell you exactly where I will compromise and that's one of them.”
Whaley, who taught biology during his career as an educator, stated that life begins at conception, which is typically between 12 and 24 hours. Whaley would not compromise on that point.
At that same meeting, Don Carriker complained that Whaley had too much power in Stone County because he was president of the MRA and was the temporary chair of Stone County central committee (until a new chair could be elected). In light of primary challenger Sandy Karnes and her influential positions with the local and 7th Congressional District’s committees, this concern of Carriker is interesting.
Soon after that meeting, Rep. Gragg invited Franiak and Whaley out to the restaurant Rosie Jo’s in Ozark to resolve any possible division that may have occurred. It was also at this meeting that Gragg noted to Whaley it was Carriker who asked him to confer with Franiak, Karnes and Overall about a possible run for representative of the 138th District.
THE MOU IS DOA
When it came time for candidate endorsements the Stone and Christian County MRA chapters met to come to an agreement for the 75% of the voting populace who resided in Stone County. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was hammered out to give the endorsement responsibility to the Stone County MRA. This MOU was written and approved by the 7th District MRA for the March endorsements. Make note that Sandy Karnes voted against the MOU at that time.
In fact, both Titus and Whaley were integral members of the conservative contingent called the Brave Ten, who defied the GOP establishment in Jefferson City to support Justin Sparks for House Speaker, rather than RINO Jon Patterson. And now both conservative incumbents are facing primary opponents who are closely identified with the GOP establishment.
When Carriker could not talk Whaley out of running, he asked Whaley to consider paying Franiak for his campaign costs up to that point if Franiak dropped out of the race. Whaley declined.
Again, few politically active people had heard of Tom Franiak. The first time Whaley heard of him was in Oct. 2023 when he got a call requesting he invite Franiak to the October meeting of the Stone County MRA. Also, it was Whaley who first introduced Franiak to Sen. Mike Moon at that meeting.
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| Tom FraniakSpringfield Business Journal |
It is interesting to go back and note who Franiak said he regularly spoke with, including representatives Jamie Gragg and Jon Patterson, incoming speaker of the house. Who put Franiak in touch with Patterson, widely considered to be an establishment politician? One connection may be Axiom Strategies, a Republican organization that helps plan and execute campaigns for political candidates.
How and why did Christian County political leaders settle on Tom Franiak who was mostly unknown in local political circles before his announcement? He had little to no active engagement with local grassroots groups or political organizations, although he was active in community life. Franiak’s candidacy would have caused few waves, except for the way he was promoted by the local cabal over grassroots candidate Whaley. Why oppose voter choice for the best candidate when there was no incumbent?
WHEN LIFE BEGINS
At a February 13, 2024 CCMRA meeting, Franiak and Whaley both spoke. One of the questions revolved around when life begins. It became apparent that the candidates were divided. Although Franiak stated that life begins at conception, he elaborated by saying, “[Life] begins at conception, yes, for my religion. But there is no way to detect it medically so I will be very transparent here and say if Missouri was to pass a Morning After Pill I don't see it being much different than any other contraceptive, because we cannot detect a heartbeat. We cannot tell whether the cell has been divided, um, I believe that in order to be a great legislator you're going to have compromise. I can plant my feet in the ground and I can say absolutely no compromise, but we'll never win that battle. The liberals will come after you every time. So, in order to be a great legislator in Jeff City you're going to have to be open to some compromise. But one thing I will do is stand up here and tell you exactly where I will compromise and that's one of them.”
Whaley, who taught biology during his career as an educator, stated that life begins at conception, which is typically between 12 and 24 hours. Whaley would not compromise on that point.
At that same meeting, Don Carriker complained that Whaley had too much power in Stone County because he was president of the MRA and was the temporary chair of Stone County central committee (until a new chair could be elected). In light of primary challenger Sandy Karnes and her influential positions with the local and 7th Congressional District’s committees, this concern of Carriker is interesting.
Soon after that meeting, Rep. Gragg invited Franiak and Whaley out to the restaurant Rosie Jo’s in Ozark to resolve any possible division that may have occurred. It was also at this meeting that Gragg noted to Whaley it was Carriker who asked him to confer with Franiak, Karnes and Overall about a possible run for representative of the 138th District.
THE MOU IS DOA
When it came time for candidate endorsements the Stone and Christian County MRA chapters met to come to an agreement for the 75% of the voting populace who resided in Stone County. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was hammered out to give the endorsement responsibility to the Stone County MRA. This MOU was written and approved by the 7th District MRA for the March endorsements. Make note that Sandy Karnes voted against the MOU at that time.
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| Sandy Karnes |
However, the MOU was rescinded in a Feb. 16, 2024 MRA memorandum sent by 7th District Second Vice President Ronnie White. Stating the MOU "...may not be fully aligned with the State MRA Bylaws," the rescission came three days after the February meeting at which Carriker complained about Whaley wielding too much power.
There was a Board meeting but it is not clear how the decision came about at the State level--whether there was a vote or simply a discussion and decision. According to sources, Carriker made an issue of the MOU and was supported by Steve Lampley, who was MRA President at the time. It was believed that Whaley would win the endorsement of the MRA, and it seems obvious there was establishment opposition to it.
That is not all. The 7th District’s Convention occurred on March 23, 2024. During the convention, local MRA leaders Ron Sanders and Ronnie White proposed a procedural change for endorsements to allow the MRA to do what the MOU would have done. The proposal passed. The Stone County MRA members in the 138th could now vote on the endorsement, and indeed Whaley was overwhelmingly endorsed at the next meeting on April 18, 2024.
Note that Tom Franiak’s wife, Donni, had just become a brand new member of the Christian County MRA. It was Donni who nominated her husband for endorsement at the Stone County MRA. Donni Franiak currently serves as the secretary of the Christian County central committee.
THE VETTING QUESTION
At an April 2024 patriot group meeting in Berry County, Don Carriker questioned Whaley on the vetting of candidates. Carriker was wearing a Tom Franiak campaign shirt at that meeting while Chair of the central committee at the time. During the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, central committee Chair Carriker asked central committee Temporary Chair Whaley why Stone County did not vet candidates like Christian County.
That turned out to be a great question, considering that Carriker and his father originated the vetting survey for REPACCMO, the Republican Association of Central Committees of Missouri. There have been many questions to date about the “survey” used to vet local candidates: who was carrying out the vetting, whether the actual questions constituted a professional survey or a test (two distinct things), and how the survey was prepared.
That is not all. The 7th District’s Convention occurred on March 23, 2024. During the convention, local MRA leaders Ron Sanders and Ronnie White proposed a procedural change for endorsements to allow the MRA to do what the MOU would have done. The proposal passed. The Stone County MRA members in the 138th could now vote on the endorsement, and indeed Whaley was overwhelmingly endorsed at the next meeting on April 18, 2024.
Note that Tom Franiak’s wife, Donni, had just become a brand new member of the Christian County MRA. It was Donni who nominated her husband for endorsement at the Stone County MRA. Donni Franiak currently serves as the secretary of the Christian County central committee.
THE VETTING QUESTION
At an April 2024 patriot group meeting in Berry County, Don Carriker questioned Whaley on the vetting of candidates. Carriker was wearing a Tom Franiak campaign shirt at that meeting while Chair of the central committee at the time. During the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, central committee Chair Carriker asked central committee Temporary Chair Whaley why Stone County did not vet candidates like Christian County.
That turned out to be a great question, considering that Carriker and his father originated the vetting survey for REPACCMO, the Republican Association of Central Committees of Missouri. There have been many questions to date about the “survey” used to vet local candidates: who was carrying out the vetting, whether the actual questions constituted a professional survey or a test (two distinct things), and how the survey was prepared.
VETTING USED AS A WEAPON?
On June 27, 2024 the Christian County central committee, through Chair Don Carriker, filed suit against Christian County Clerk Paula Brumfield for allowing Christian County Highway Superintendent Brent Young to file as a Republican on the ballot for the upcoming election for Western County Commissioner.
What may not be well known is that Carriker and Young, in his capacity as highway superintendent, reportedly had a conflict over bridge construction that happened to impact some of Carriker’s property.
What may not be well known is that Carriker and Young, in his capacity as highway superintendent, reportedly had a conflict over bridge construction that happened to impact some of Carriker’s property.
Yet Young was still forced to go to
Carriker’s home for the vetting process instead of a neutral location.
He was told he failed to make the benchmark scoring as a Republican. He
was called in to a meeting with central committee members, who later
determined Young “was not Republican enough.” This, even though Young
had been vouched for by a member of the central committee and was a
lifelong Republican. At the time, not all of those members themselves
had taken the test or were vetted.
When Young filed with the County
Clerk’s office anyway, the Central Committee "by and through Don Carriker, Chairman" sued. The suit, which also named Susan Pathkiller (a public administrator in Christian County) was dismissed after Carriker and his attorney failed to appear for a court date. A later motion by Carikker to set aside the dismissal was denied.
Young later lost a close race to Johnny Williams.
Meanwhile, back in February 2024, Whaley was not allowed to have someone other than Carriker vet him, even though it was clear to Whaley that Carriker was supporting Franiak, indeed had contributed to his campaign (see above). Whaley was well conversant with how a survey should be written and conducted. He asked Carriker a series of questions about surveys, and found that the survey was not properly formulated.
Carriker admitted that he did not have 50% Democrats beta-testing the survey, which would have been needed in order to validate it. The vast majority of beta-testers were Republicans—taking a Republican test. There was no control group, no variable group to test against. Carriker controlled the vetting process in Christian County and was unwilling to allow another individual to vet either Whaley or Young, even though there were obvious conflicts of interest.
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| From: Missouri Ethics Commission |
Meanwhile, back in February 2024, Whaley was not allowed to have someone other than Carriker vet him, even though it was clear to Whaley that Carriker was supporting Franiak, indeed had contributed to his campaign (see above). Whaley was well conversant with how a survey should be written and conducted. He asked Carriker a series of questions about surveys, and found that the survey was not properly formulated.
Carriker admitted that he did not have 50% Democrats beta-testing the survey, which would have been needed in order to validate it. The vast majority of beta-testers were Republicans—taking a Republican test. There was no control group, no variable group to test against. Carriker controlled the vetting process in Christian County and was unwilling to allow another individual to vet either Whaley or Young, even though there were obvious conflicts of interest.
In a a strange twist of events, Carriker was kicked out of REPACCMO's chat group in early 2025 after some apparent divisiveness. David Rice, of Hick Christian, shared a text message from Carriker, complaining about Rice.
GRASSROOTS VS ESTABLISHMENT
The
type of maneuvers and strategies the political parties engage in can be
disheartening to citizens. Some politically active individuals consider
themselves operators and power brokers. They toady up to moneyed
interests, seek their own self-interests, and forget that civic action
should benefit all the citizenry and not just a few individuals and
groups. The GOP has an entrenched establishment cabal, even in Christian
County, that seeks to wrest control back from two actual grassroots
conservatives who have servant hearts (listen to both Titus and Whaley on a recent radio show).
The
local cabal is desperate enough to attempt to unseat two popular
representatives who rank high for their conservative voting records.
Most of all, they count on the average Missourian to be ignorant and too
busy to see what is going on.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.