Walter Hayes

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Walter Hayes
Image of Walter Hayes

Republican Party

Candidate, Missouri House of Representatives District 162

Elections and appointments
Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

High school

St. Amant High School

Personal
Birthplace
Joplin, Mo.
Religion
Pentecostal
Profession
Manager
Contact

Campaign website

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Walter Hayes (Republican Party) is running for election to the Missouri House of Representatives to represent District 162. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]

Hayes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Walter Hayes was born in Joplin, Missouri. He earned a high school diploma from St. Amant High School. Hayes' career experience includes working as a manager, minister, and real estate broker. As of 2025, he was affiliated with the National Association of Christian Lawmakers.[1]

Elections

2026

See also: Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Missouri House of Representatives District 162

Walter Hayes is running in the general election for Missouri House of Representatives District 162 on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Walter Hayes
Walter Hayes (R) Candidate Connection

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Walter Hayes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hayes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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I'm a husband, father, grandfather, and now great-grandfather. I'm a minister of the gospel. My wife and I head up different ministries at the church we attend and I am the president of FTN Ministries which is a ministry that spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ through our singing and teaching ministries. I am a certified Constitution Coach through Patriot Academy. I have served and currently serve as an Alderman in the City of Carl Junction. I am a native of Southwest Missouri and have lived in Carl Junction since 1999. I'm also a real estate Broker and have worked in real estate since 1999. I believe that it's time we get back to a bottom up approach to our government. We've relied for too long on the elite to tell us what is right for us rather than being engaged and participatory in our government. We have not only a responsibility, but I believe a duty to be involved. Whether that's exercising our vote, talking to our legislators, or running for office ourselves. It is incumbent on us to participate rather than sit on the sidelines and complain.
  • It is the job of our government to protect our God given rights, not to try to dictate our rights to us.
  • There is a right to life engrained into the founding documents of this country and every life, from the preborn to the elderly have a right to that life. Abortion should not only be illegal, it should be unthinkable.
  • The second amendment was put there, as much as anything, as a way to protect the people from an oppressive government. Shall not be infringed is emphatic, not permissive. We have to protect that right.
Abortion, 1st Amendment rights, 2nd Amendment rights are the biggest areas for me. From there I am fully behind eliminating the income tax and property tax. Both are a penalty on the creation of wealth. Close behind it would be the estate tax and the capital gains tax. We should fund our governments largely as it was funded prior to the passage of the 16th amendment. We should fund our government via tariffs on merchandise coming in from other countries and via sales taxes. The tariff is a mechanism to even the playing field with the import of cheap goods from other countries. The sales tax is a tax on consumption rather than production. The transition however, has to be studied and done carefully so as not to crush small town economies.
There are a number of people that I look up to depending on the subject. For instance, I look up to Jason Rapert, founder of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, a group that belong to. I believe he has a very level approach to things but it trying to advance good policy and has created an organization that brings legislators together from across the country for the purpose of supporting each other and creating good policy.
The Bible, The Constitution Alive class through Patriot Academy, Biblical Civics through Patriot Academy, the Constitution of the United States.
Integrity, transparency, and approachability.
I know what I believe and I know how to stand by it. I am always in learning mode. I never want to approach something thinking I'm the smartest one in the room. I don't have a problem admitting when I've messed up.
To represent, to the best of my abilities, the constituents that I represent. To be as accessible as is possible. To communicate as much as is possible.
That I've done my best to represent the conservative values of the majority of the people of Southwest Missouri.
I certainly consider it historical. My very first vote was for Ronald Reagan in 1980 when he won the presidency the first time.
My very first job was cutting lawns for $2 a yard. My first real job was before I could drive where I worked at a carpet store. I would clean up around the place as needed and do any other odd jobs they might need.
Ultimately the Bible. It is the instruction book for life. If I have a problem, ultimately the answer is going to be in the Bible.
I'll say Superman just because he can fly without dealing with airports.
Can't think of one. It's not uncommon for me to wake up with a song going in my mind but like most dreams, I can't remember what it was.
Losing my first wife after 35 years of marriage. Our marriage wasn't perfect but we were one as a couple and having half of your identity ripped from you in an instant is a struggle. With God's help I was able to work through it to find a wonderful lady that I believe God picked for me. We've just celebrated 9 years of marriage.
It should be a working relationship between both. The governor has an agenda he wants to carry forward as does the legislature. They should work together to try to achieve what makes sense for the people of Missouri.
Spending and taxes. This can be a bit of chicken and egg problem depending on who you talk to but both will be a challenge. Our surpluses are dwindling, people are tired of losing more and more of their money to taxes. Something is going to have to give.
It certainly helps but is not essential. I'm spending as much time as I can during the session in Jefferson City to learn what I can as I prepare for the job.
Absolutely. One of my primary objectives this last session was to work on relationships with as many legislators as possible. The better that working relationship the more you can effectively collaborate to get positive things done.
Ron Richard would be a good model. He was/is a very well respected legislator in his time in the House and Senate of the Missouri General Assembly.
I'm not worried about any other office at the moment. Assuming I'm elected to the House next year, I'll hopefully have 8 years there to do good work. If the people like my work, we'll see what comes.
No single story, but many stories about the impact of the increasing burden of taxes. Wages have not kept pace with inflation but taxes continue to go up because we don't know how to control spending.
I can't say as I have a favorite joke.
Emergency powers should be in the hands of the Governor. The Governor should shortly after declaring any sort of emergency consult with the General Assembly but the power itself should be in the hands of the Governor.
If not already passed in the State of Missouri my first bill would be to codify in our State Constitution that life begins at conception and therefore is protected by the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
Too early in the campaign for that but I certainly hope to earn the endorsement of several groups and individuals.
I'm certainly interested in the budget committee. Children and Family, Economic Development, Emerging Issues, Fiscal Review.
Transparency has to happen as much as possible and the government should be accountable to the people whose taxes they are spending.
I think that IP is unconstitutional based on Article 4 Section 4 of the US Constitution that says that states SHALL guarantee a republican form of government. There is nothing republican about initiative petition. It is a form of direct democracy that is 180 degrees out of phase with how our country was founded. It should be replaced with something akin to a convention of counties, patterned after the Convention of States outlined in the US Constitution.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

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External links

Candidate

Missouri House of Representatives District 162
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 24, 2025


    Current members of the Missouri House of Representatives
    Leadership
    Speaker of the House:Jon Patterson
    Minority Leader:Ashley Aune
    Representatives
    District 1
    District 2
    District 3
    District 4
    District 5
    District 6
    Ed Lewis (R)
    District 7
    District 8
    District 9
    District 10
    District 11
    District 12
    District 13
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    District 15
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    District 18
    District 19
    District 20
    District 21
    Will Jobe (D)
    District 22
    District 23
    District 24
    District 25
    District 26
    District 27
    District 28
    District 29
    District 30
    District 31
    District 32
    District 33
    District 34
    District 35
    District 36
    District 37
    District 38
    District 39
    District 40
    District 41
    District 42
    District 43
    District 44
    District 45
    District 46
    District 47
    District 48
    District 49
    District 50
    District 51
    District 52
    District 53
    District 54
    District 55
    District 56
    District 57
    District 58
    District 59
    Rudy Veit (R)
    District 60
    District 61
    District 62
    District 63
    District 64
    District 65
    District 66
    District 67
    District 68
    Kem Smith (D)
    District 69
    District 70
    District 71
    District 72
    District 73
    District 74
    District 75
    District 76
    District 77
    District 78
    District 79
    District 80
    District 81
    District 82
    District 83
    District 84
    District 85
    District 86
    District 87
    District 88
    District 89
    District 90
    District 91
    Jo Doll (D)
    District 92
    District 93
    District 94
    District 95
    Vacant
    District 96
    District 97
    District 98
    District 99
    District 100
    District 101
    District 102
    District 103
    District 104
    District 105
    District 106
    District 107
    District 108
    District 109
    District 110
    District 111
    District 112
    District 113
    District 114
    Vacant
    District 115
    District 116
    District 117
    District 118
    District 119
    District 120
    District 121
    District 122
    District 123
    District 124
    District 125
    District 126
    District 127
    District 128
    District 129
    District 130
    District 131
    Bill Owen (R)
    District 132
    District 133
    District 134
    District 135
    District 136
    District 137
    District 138
    District 139
    Bob Titus (R)
    District 140
    District 141
    District 142
    District 143
    District 144
    District 145
    District 146
    District 147
    John Voss (R)
    District 148
    District 149
    District 150
    District 151
    District 152
    District 153
    District 154
    District 155
    District 156
    District 157
    District 158
    District 159
    District 160
    Vacant
    District 161
    District 162
    District 163
    Cathy Loy (R)
    Republican Party (108)
    Democratic Party (52)
    Vacancies (3)


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