The drive by Republican state attorneys general to block the overreach by the federal government into state affairs got a boost yesterday from the primary victory of Josh Hawley as Missouri AG. If elected, Hawley will add a state the growing movement of state attorneys general.
Hawley, 36, is already well known in conservative legal circles. He defeated state senator Kurt Schaefer, 50, in a blowout, 64 to 36 percent, with nearly 90 percent of the vote counted. A law professor at the University of Missouri, Hawley was a law clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2006-2007 term.
During the Obama years, Republican AGs have played a major role in curbing or weakening the power of Washington—especially that of the Environmental Protection Agency.
And the AGs are important for another reason: The office is often a springboard to higher office. There has been political speculation that a half dozen or more of the current state attorneys may run for governor or senator. Among these are Luther Strange of Alabama, Bill Schuette of Michigan, Pam Bondi of Florida, Alan Wilson of South Carolina, Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma, and Sam Olens of Georgia.
Hawley is viewed as potentially part of a second wave of conservative AGs with impressive legal credentials. That group includes Adam Laxalt, the Nevada attorney general and grandson of former U.S. senator Paul Laxalt, and Patrick Morrisey, the first Republican attorney general of West Virginia since 1933. Morrisey was elected in 2012, Laxalt in 2014.
The Missouri race was both expensive and divisive. Schaefer, an influential figure in the legislature, was considered a more conventional choice for AG. Hawley, in contrast, is an acolyte of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.
Hawley grew up in Lexington, Missouri, the son of a small town banker. He graduated from Stanford University and Yale Law School. He was a law clerk for Judge Michael McConnell of the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before his stint at the Supreme Court with Roberts. His wife Erin was also a Supreme Court law clerk.
The Democratic race for AG was a tame affair and attracted less than one-third of the Republican turnout. Hawley is the favorite in November. The current attorney general, Democrat Chris Koster, won his party’s nomination for governor.
