Eric Schmitt, a Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri, has picked up the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC under the Koch umbrella of political and policy groups.
Schmitt, the Missouri attorney general, is locked in a competitive GOP primary with former Gov. Eric Greitens; Reps. Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long; and others. Americans for Prosperity Action, with its resources and focus on grassroots organizing and voter turnout, could provide a critical boost to Schmitt if the primary campaign remains close and ends in a photo-finish. The group operates under the umbrella of groups supported, in part, by Charles Koch.
“I am honored to receive the endorsement from Americans for Prosperity in my campaign for U.S. Senate,” Schmitt said in a statement. “During my time as state Senator and Attorney General, I was proud to stand alongside AFP in some of the toughest fights to empower and preserve the American Dream in Missouri.”
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Americans for Prosperity Action is a super PAC and sister organization to Americans for Prosperity, long one of the more active grassroots mobilization groups in conservative politics. The groups were started by Kansas billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch. David Koch died in 2019 and had stepped away from the oversight of the groups due to health reasons prior to his death.
Oversight of the Koch-backed political groups, which have lately reduced their financial support for the Republican Party and GOP candidates, has since been in the hands of Charles Koch, at least in part. However, support for Schmitt appears to be an exception to that recent trend, with Americans for Prosperity Action promising robust support for his candidacy.
“We are excited to throw the full weight of our grassroots army behind Eric Schmitt now through Election Day,” said Jeremy Cady, the group’s senior adviser in Missouri.
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Meanwhile, the Republicans running for Senate in Missouri are on pins and needles waiting to see what former President Donald Trump is going to do. Trump’s endorsement could tip the scales in a state that has become a Republican bastion and holds the former president in high esteem. Schmitt and Greitens are competing particularly hard for Trump’s backing.
The former president has so far kept his powder dry in this primary and declined to tip his hand.
