It’s primary day in the Show Me State, and the closely watched battle between the top three contenders — Missouri’s attorney general, Eric Schmitt, U.S. representative Vicky Hartzler, and scandal-plagued former governor Eric Greitens — for the GOP Senate candidacy draws to a close. According to the latest Trafalgar Group poll, Schmitt leads Eric Greitens by 13 points and Vicky Hartzler by 16 points. In a KMOV-TV/SurveyUSA poll conducted last week, Schmitt leads Greitens by eight points and Hartzler by 15 points.
Schmitt has made a name for himself as a fighter. “I am the real America First candidate,” Schmitt tells National Review in a written statement. If elected, Schmitt says that he will take a “blow torch to Biden’s radical agenda.”
Former president Trump issued an ambiguous endorsement of “ERIC” yesterday, publishing a statement from his Save America PAC. Dan McLaughlin called Trump’s move “cowardly and contemptible.” McLaughlin said, “Trump knows perfectly well how this will play, and that it allows him to claim a win later while putting nothing at risk, neither his skill at picking winners nor his standing with the transgressive voters who prefer Greitens precisely because he is a man of visibly bad character.”
Greitens tweeted in response, “I’m honored to receive President Trump’s endorsement. From the beginning, I’ve been the true MAGA Champion fighting against the RINO establishment backing Schmitt. President Trump said it best when he characterized Schmitt’s campaign as ‘great dishonesty in politics.’” Greitens has the backing of Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is the national co-chair of his Senate campaign and perhaps just as importantly, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr.
Schmitt also claimed the endorsement, tweeting, “I’m grateful for President Trump’s endorsement. As the only America First candidate who has actually fought for election integrity, border security & against the Left’s indoctrination of our kids — I’ll take that fight to the Senate to SAVE AMERICA!”
Schmitt alluded to political corruption in Washington, D.C., saying, “Voters are tired of their elected officials lying to them and using their time in office to enrich their family.” Schmitt believes his record proves he is “the true conservative in this race who takes on the tough fights and does not back down.”
Some Republicans are rallying behind Schmitt as they try to ensure that Greitens does not become the GOP Senate nominee in Missouri. Republicans, including Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts, are donating money to the anti-Greitens Show Me Values PAC that is running TV ads against Greitens focused on the allegations of spousal abuse against him. The Show Me Values PAC has reported having spent almost $3.9 million to the FEC so far. According to the Independent, the vast majority of that money was spent on ads highlighting Greitens’s more recent scandals and accusing him of being soft on China.
For his part, Schmitt doesn’t mince words when describing his opponents. Greitens, in Schmitt’s view, “quit on our state and abused his wife and kid. He quit on Missouri once and will quit on Missouri again when the work becomes too hard and the pressure too much for him to handle.”
Eric Greitens was leading the pack until June, when Schmitt started beating him in the polls. Greitens, as Schmitt alluded to, is mired in scandals. He resigned from the governor’s office only one and a half years into his term after he was found to be having an affair with a hairdresser whom he allegedly threatened to blackmail with nude photos if she exposed their relationship to the public. While Greitens acknowledges the affair took place, he denies blackmailing the hairdresser. Greitens was charged with a felony for the blackmail scandal as well as with a felony for improperly taking a donor list from a non-profit that he created to use in his campaign for governor. Moreover, this spring, Greitens’ ex-wife, Sheena Greitens, filed a sworn affidavit that Eric had assaulted her and their three-year-old son. The criminal charges against Greitens have been dropped, and he claims he has been exonerated.
In June, Greitens released a highly contentious campaign ad that showed him going “RINO [Republican In Name Only] hunting.” In the ad, Greitens holds a shotgun and says, “The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice.” Schmitt told NR that, based on that ad, Greitens “should seek professional help.”
Schmitt says he has aggressively taken on the Biden administration and liberal policies as attorney general, although many lawsuits he has filed have been unsuccessful. He attempted to sue China over Covid-19. Schmitt sued 47 school districts in Missouri for mandating masks in the classroom. He also filed a lawsuit against St. Louis just last week for passing an ordinance to assist women in getting abortions out of state. Furthermore, Schmitt has filed a number of lawsuits regarding vaccine mandates and immigration. Schmitt touted his record as attorney general to NR: “I have beaten back Joe Biden’s radical open-border policies, stopped attempts to stifle free speech, sued to end Fauci’s COVID mandates, fought for election integrity, stood up to China, and much more.”
The momentum seems to be with Schmitt leading into today’s election. Trump’s strange endorsement of “ERIC” — which voters can interpret any way they please — will probably not make much of a difference, but like Trump, it’s another wild card. “We need more reinforcements in Washington willing to fight for their constituents,” says Schmitt. “I have a record of fighting and winning for our freedom and for Missouri families.”