- Main Page « 2022 Senate Races « Missouri Senate
| MISSOURI |
Nov. 8,
2022 U.S. Senate |
|
Plurality: 274,272 votes (13.26 percentage points). MO Secretary of State
Notes: U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) announced on Mar. 8, 2021 that he would not run for a third term (1, 2), creating an open seat. Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) defeated nurse and philanthropist Trudy Busch Valentine (D) as well as Paul Venable (C) and Jonathan Dine (L). Republicans have a strong advantage in Missouri. In 2020 Trump won by 15.39 percentage points, Republicans control five of the six elected state executive offices, six of eight U.S. House seats, and both chambers of the state legislature by more than two to one margins. A large field of 21 Republicans, 11 Democrats and two third party candidates appeared on the Aug. 2 U.S. Senate primary ballot. Leading the field on the Republican side were: former Gov. Eric Greitens, U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, and U.S. Rep. Billy Long. Topping the Democratic field were Lance Kunce (+), an attorney and Marine veteran running as a progressive, beer heiress, philanthropist and nurse Trudy Busch Valentine (+), and entrepreneur Spencer Toder. There were no general election debates between the two major party candidates. Valentine, Venable and Dine participated in the Missouri Press Association forum at the Lake of the Ozarks on Sept. 16, while Schmitt, who declined to appear in debates that were not televised statewide, was represented by an empty podium. The Busch Valentine campaign had raised $18.2 million, spent $16.8 million and had cash on hand of $1.4 million compared to $6.5 million raised, $6.4 million spent and $121,127 in cash on hand for the Schmitt campaign. The Busch Valentine campaign was largely self-financed; Busch Valentine accounted for $16.4 million of total contributions (90.0%). Republican Primary Greitens, who resigned as governor on June 1, 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and under threat of impeachment, drew a huge amount of media attention. He announced he would run on Mar. 22, 2021 and for the best part of a year was seen as the leading candidate, prompting great unease among Republicans who feared that if he were to win the nomination his baggage could cost them the seat. Greitens' campaign website featured a 12-minute video from 2020 "Raw Deal: The Corrupt Political Takedown of Navy SEAL Gov. Eric Greitens (>)" rebutting charges made against him. Certainly many Democrats hoped he would be the nominee. However the narrative changed and Greitens' fortunes fell in March 2022 when his ex-wife, in a sworn affidavit, alleged domestic violence. Greitens resisted calls for him to drop out of the race. In June Greitens drew widespread criticism, and national attention, for a controversial ad where he appeared carrying a shotgun going "RINO hunting" (>). Hartzler announced her candidacy on June 10, 2021 (>). She was elected to represent MO-4 (24 counties in west central Missouri) in 2010 and previously served six years in the state House. She is a former public school teacher, and her family has a farm in Cass County. Schmitt started as Attorney General in Jan. 2019 after serving two years as Treasurer and eight years in the Missouri Senate. He announced his candidacy on Mar. 24, 2021. In one ad he vowed to take a blow torch to Biden's agenda (>). Long was elected to represent MO-7 (southwestern Missouri) in 2010; he previously ran auction and real estate businesses. Other notable candidates included attorney Mark McCloskey (+) and state Senate Pro Tem David Schatz. Greitens, Hartzler and Schmitt skipped a debate on May 31 in Springfield, leaving Long, Schatz and McCloskey to share the stage. Real America's Voice and The Gateway Pundit announced they would host a debate on July 11 in St. Louis, but the event did not happen. Super PACs spent significant sums on the Republican primary, including over $8 million against Greitens. Through mid-July, the leading outside spenders were Show Me Values PAC ($7.9M), Save Missouri Values ($5.3M) and Americans for Prosperity Action ($4.7M). For months there was speculation that Trump might endorse Greitens. In a July 9, 2022 posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he would not be endorsing Hartzler because he didn't think "she has what it takes." Trump finally threw his support to "ERIC"—whether Greitens or Schmitt was unclear—the day before the primary. For all the attention he received, Greitens only achieved a third place finish. Of 655,675 votes tallied Schmitt garnered 45.6%, Hartzler 22.1%, Greitens 18.9%, Long 5.0%, McCloskey 3.0%, Schatz 1.1% and all others less than 1 percent. Democratic Primary On the Democratic side, Kunce announced his candidacy on Mar. 9, 2021. Offering a bold, populist vision, Kunce declared he sought "to fundamentally change who has power in this country." Through mid-July, Kunce's campaign had raised the most of any of the candidate committees, Democratic or Republican. He obtained significant endorsements, including from the League of Conservation Voters, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn, Indivisible St. Louis, and perhaps most notably, on July 25, 2022, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which backed him as "by far the most agile and well-prepared candidate to take on the uphill challenge of defeating the Republican nominee in the general election." Busch Valentine was a late entrant into the race, announcing her candidacy via video on Mar. 29, 2022 (>). Thereupon state Sen. Scott Sifton ended his campaign and endorsed Busch Valentine. She was something of an unknown quantity, but her name, compelling story about the death of her son, and ability to self fund her campaign made her the apparent frontrunner. However, Busch Valentine drew criticism for not participating in forums or events where she might face tough questions. KMOV-TV news director Scott Diener tweeted that she had "not even responded to numerous requests to participate" in a debate scheduled for July 12; the event was cancelled. Nine candidates, including Busch Valentine and Kunce, participated in a Zoom candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of St. Louis and Gateway Democrats on July 18 (>). Of 368,255 votes tallied, Busch Valentine garnered 43.2%, Kunce 38.3%, Toder 4.7% and Carla Coffee Wright 3.9%. An Independent Enters and Exits Further reflecting the Republican unease over Greitens, on June 29, 2022 John Wood, a "lifelong Republican" who recently served as senior investigative counsel to the Jan. 6 Select Committee and is a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and George W. Bush administration official, announced he would run as an independent. On Aug. 1 he submitted 22,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot (he needed signatures of 10,000 registered voters). Wood had the backing of former U.S. Sen. John Danforth (R). However, on Aug. 23 he announced he would end his campaign. Campaign Managers: Eric Schmitt: Alex Leppert (July 2022; started as political director, July 2021-July 2022) Campaign manager and communications director on Winsome Sears for Lieutenant Governor (VA), Dec. 2020-June 2021. Wisconsin deputy press secretary for the RNC, Mar.-Dec. 2020. Campaign manager on Jerry Evans for Congress (IL-14), Sept. 2019-Mar. 2020. Project manager for Branch Communications, LLC, Feb. 2019-Mar. 2020. Field director on Peter Roskam for Congress (IL), Sept.-Dec. 2018. Field organizer on Diane Black for Governor (TN), June-Aug. 2018. B.A. in political communications and business from Regent University, 2018; A.A. from San Diego Christian College, 2015. Trudy Busch Valentine: Alexandra "Alex" J. Witt (Apr. 2022) Senior director of strategic partnerships (Mar. 2021-Apr. 2022) and director of audience development (Mar. 2020-Mar. 2021) at the Center for American Progress. Chief of staff for communications, policy research and digital (Oct. 2019-Jan. 2020) and deputy digital director (Feb.-Oct. 2019) on Cory 2020 (Cory Booker's presidential campaign). Associate director at Bully Pulpit Interactive, Jan. 2018-Feb. 2019. Digital director on Northam for Governor, Jan.-Nov. 2017. Senior social media strategist on Hillary for America, Nov. 2015-Nov. 2016. Innovation coordinator for Cerner Corporation, May-Nov. 2015. Digital content manager at the DNC, Sept. 2014-May 2015. MSc in politics and communication from London School of Economics and Political Science, 2014; B.A. in political science and communication from Truman State University, 2013. See also: David A. Lieb. "Biden suits get mixed results for Missouri Senate candidate." AP, Oct. 26, 2022. Jack Suntrup. "Three US Senate candidates face questions at forum. Schmitt skips event." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept. 17, 2022. PolitiFact. "The race for the Missouri Senate seat: A guide." Rudi Keller. "Anti-Greitens PAC tops spending as Missouri U.S. Senate races cost approaches $30M." Missouri Independent, July 19, 2022. Jason Hancock. "Missouri Democratic Senate debate called off after Valentine ignored requests to participate." Missouri Independent, July 7, 2022. Jonathan Shorman. "Who is Eric Greitens? A guide to the former governor's latest and biggest controversies." Kansas City Star, May 8, 2022. Natalie Allison. "Greitens' fade reorders Missouri Senate race." Politico, April 11, 2022. Alex Isenstadt. "Trump's McConnell obsession leads him toward Eric Greitens." Politico, Mar. 4, 2022. |
  |
ADVERTISEMENT
Copyright © 2021 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action. All rights reserved.