A potential Republican Senate candidate said Tuesday he won’t run, potentially averting a primary clash in Missouri as the GOP seeks to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Missouri Treasurer Eric Schmitt said he would not run because “I believe it is time for all of us to unite behind one candidate to be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, which is why I am supporting [Missouri] Attorney General Josh Hawley.”
McCaskill, a Democrat first elected in 2006, is seen as vulnerable in a state won by President Trump by nearly 20 percentage points. She was expected to lose in 2012 as well, but a weak candidate, Rep. Todd Akin, emerged from the GOP primary. Republicans would like to avoid that this time around.
The decision was first reported by RealClearPolitics and comes after another potential candidate, Republican Rep. Ann Wagner, said she would not run for the Senate.
Republicans already have a built-in advantage in 2018, with Democrats defending 10 Senate seats in states won by Trump and Republicans defending just one seat in a state won by Hillary Clinton.
Hawley, a 37-year-old attorney, clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and previously worked for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which seeks to uphold freedom of religion and is supported by social conservatives.
