So far, it is hard to determine whether Sykes’ campaign has traction. He has relied on social media, interviews with journalists and a two-minute campaign video to spread his message. Several Missouri Republican leaders say they know nothing about the Arkansas native.

He has been a permanent resident of Missouri for less than a year. In an interview, he refused to talk about his business, a defense consulting firm. To illustrate his Missouri ties, he said his family vacationed in the Ozarks growing up — but he wouldn’t say where.

“Look, I’m not going to talk about family stuff,” he told the Post-Dispatch.

In a 20-minute interview on Monday, Sykes, 37, struggled to answer questions about when the United States should exercise military force. Sykes declined a second interview. But he did send over an 11-page document in a question-and-answer format.

In the document, Sykes criticizes political correctness. He takes aim at modern feminism, praises Breitbart News, derides “Big Media,” belittles the Muslim faith and, in a jab at the nation’s education system, says Detroit “is crawling with uneducated people who can’t read a breakfast menu.”

In his final answer, Sykes responded to the question: “Do you favor women’s rights?”