Roy Dean Blunt is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 33rd Missouri Secretary of State (1985–1993) and U.S. Representative for Missouri's 7th congressional district (1997–2011).

Missouri's 7th congressional district consists of Southwest Missouri. The district includes Springfield, the home of Missouri State University, the Joplin, Missouri, metropolitan area, Missouri's 5th largest, and the popular tourist destination city of Branson. Located along the borders of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Northwest Arkansas, the district occupies part of the Bible Belt with a strong socially conservative trend. George W. Bush defeated John Kerry here 67% to 32% in the 2004 election. Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama 63.1% to 35.3% in the 2008 election. Republican and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney defeated Barack Obama 67.6% to 30.3% in the 2012 election. In the 2020 election, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Joe Biden 69.91% to 28.93%. As of 2020, this district is the second most strongly Republican district in Missouri and is one of the most strongly Republican districts in the United States.