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The Associated Press predicts that Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt has won the Missouri Republican Senate primary to succeed retiring Republican Senator Roy Blunt.
Schmidt is one of the frontrunners in the race, with former Missouri Gov. Eric Gretens and Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who represents Missouri’s 4th Congressional District, among the state’s Representatives of the main rural areas of the West.
More than 20 Missouri Republicans are vying for the party’s Senate nomination. The field includes Rep. Billy Long, who is in the state’s 7th congressional district in southwestern Missouri, and St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey, who was with his wife in the summer of 2020 for having a gun outside their home. Black Lives Matter protesters made national headlines for fending off attacks.
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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt speaks during a news conference outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
(Andrew Haller/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Schmidt, who won two statewide elections in Missouri — for treasurer secretary and attorney general — has made headlines over the past year and a half, bringing numerous lawsuits against President Biden’s administration. He came out on top in the latest survey in the race.
Gretens, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who stepped down in 2018 amid multiple controversies, was the clear front-runner in the primary but has spent months with his ex-wife accusing him of abusing her and their children. fight. Gretens denied the claims.
Republican Senate candidate and former Missouri Governor Eric Gretens speaks to Fox News at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida on February 24, 2022
(Fox News)
A long list of Republicans is concerned that Gretens’ political baggage could jeopardize what should be a relatively safe Republican seat in November. This summer, an anti-Gretens super PAC spent more than $6 million on ads targeting the former governor.
Until Monday night, the eve of the Missouri primary, former President Donald Trump remained neutral in the high-profile and combative race.
Trump refuses to stand aside, backing ‘Eric’ in flammable GOP Senate primary matchup in Missouri
Trump refused to choose between Gretens and Schmidt after teasing him hours earlier that he would endorse the campaign.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Casper, Wyoming, on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)
Instead, Trump supports both of them because he supports “ERIC.”
The winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary could face off in November against philanthropist and beer family heiress Trudy Busch Valentine or former U.S. Marine Lucas Kunce, who is running a radical populist-style campaign and gaining ground Champion Sen’s support. . Bernie Sanders Monday. The two candidates are polling leaders in a crowded field of 11 Democratic contenders.
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Missouri was once a competitive state, but has been Republican in recent decades. The winner of the Republican Senate primary will be seen as a favorite in the November election.
Former President Clinton was the last Democrat to win the state in a White House race in 1996, then a senator. Claire McCaskill’s 2012 victory was the last time a Democrat won a Senate election in the state. Trump won the state by 18 points in his 2016 presidential victory and 16 points in the 2020 re-election.
