WESTPHALIA — The Lincoln Day dinner has been postponed to April 24, 2025, due to scheduling conflicts

Newly-elected Secretary of State Denny Hoskins will provide the keynote address, and Congressman Dr. Bob Onder is scheduled to speak.

Hoskins, a Loose Creek native, graduated from Fatima. After earning his degree from the University of Central Missouri, he served in the Missouri Army National Guard and became a Certified Public Accountant.

He was first elected to the Missouri Senate in 2016 after serving eight years in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Hoskins ran for Secretary of State, vowing to be Missouri’s chief elections officer to protect election integrity. He said that the best way to do this was to require voter ID on Election Day with a paper ballot. “I don’t trust voting machines and support going back to hand-counting ballots,” he said at last year’s Lincoln Day dinner, adding that he agrees pornographic materials should not be accessible by children in the kids’ section of publicly funded libraries. “Every Missourian should know that their vote will count.”

Hoskins also promised to continue his fight to protect the unborn. He voted in support of the 2019 Heartbeat Bill and believes in eliminating abortions in Missouri, stating that life begins at conception and every life is sacred.

He wants to keep the woke agenda out of Missouri schools and barring students from competing in sports that do not match their biological gender. The governor also signed his Senate Bill 236 in July 2023 to ban transgender surgeries on Missouri children.

Hoskins also supports keeping Chinese companies from buying Missouri farmland and has shown his belief in preserving Constitutional gun rights by voting for the Second Amendment Preservation Act and Stand Your Ground laws.

Missouri Right to Life gave Secretary of State Hoskins the sole endorsement in the Primary Election.

Dr. Onder, meanwhile, is serving his first term in the US Congressional 3rd District, a seat vacated by Blaine Luetkemeyer, who retired.

At last year’s Lincoln Day dinner, Dr. Onder said the people in Washington, D.C., aren’t listening to constituents. “If Washington were listening, we would end the spending and the socialistic policies of the Biden administration,” he said. “If Washington were listening, we would close the Department of Education, and we would end the mandates, wokeness, political correctness, and the downright indoctrination of our children emanating from Washington, D.C. If Washington were listening, we would open up domestic energy production and stop begging foreign dictators for oil and waiting for Congress to listen to you.”

Dr. Onder was the only candidate endorsed by Missouri Right to Life and was the co-founder of the conservative caucus. “I played a pivotal role in passing the heartbeat bill, two major tax cuts, constitutional carry, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, and the religious liberty amendment,” he said.

Dr. Onder thought about continuing service in state government, a position he held since 2015, but believes he can do more at the federal level. After defeating six opponents to win the Republican nomination, Dr. Onder went on to win the general election against Democrat Bethany Mann.

Dr. Onder has been a physician and small business owner for more than 20 years. He is board-certified in Allergy and Immunology, as well as Internal Medicine. He is a member of the Missouri State Medical Association and a Life Member of the National Rifle Association. Dr. Onder is a graduate of Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis University School of Law and a former Missouri Right to Life board member.

Dr. Onder lives in Lake Saint Louis with his wife, Allison, and their six children.

Osage County Republican Committee Chairman Mark Lieneke, and Linda and Craig Rantz also plan to offer comments at the dinner.

Lieneke said the committee is trying to condense the length of the program since it tends to go long, meaning he plans to introduce elected officials as groups, but will not ask anyone to speak to shorten the program since it’s an off-year for elections.

In addition to the Westphalia Lions Club’s famous chicken and ham dinner, a gun raffle, renamed 2A Freedom raffle for a $500 gift certificate at Lee’s Outdoor, will be held. Lieneke noted the committee gave the Catholic Youth Organization of Osage County (CYOC) an opportunity to have a dessert auction, but the group declined, and it was dropped to save time. However, a few attendance prizes will be awarded.

Tickets cost $30 in advance or $35 at the door.