Reporter Eric Schmitt won the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate race in Missouri Tuesday night, defeating former Gov. Eric Greitens by fewer than 5 percentage points, NBC News projected based on exit polls and early results. Schmitt, who has worked as a reporter for The New York Times since 2003, will now face Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November’s general election in what could be one of the nation’s most competitive races this fall. It’s an open seat — incumbent Sen.
Eric Greitens The Disgraced Former Governor of Missouri
Eric Greitens, the embattled former Missouri governor who set out on a come-back bid in defiance of the wishes of many Republicans, has lost the GOP Senate primary to NBC News projections.
Schmitt, currently the state’s attorney general, is expected to advance to the general election, in which he will face a Democratic candidate for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Roy Blunt.
The primary results mark a humiliating defeat for Greitens, who wholeheartedly embraced President Donald Trump and defied allegations of domestic abuse in his desperation to ascend to the political fore. He announced his bid for the U.S. Senate nearly three years after he stepped down from his governorship amidst a series of accusations of blackmail against a hairdresser he was having an affair with. Greitens acknowledged the tryst but denied threatening to release nude photographs he took of her if she revealed the affair.
Privacy in Relation to The Alleged Blackmail
He was accused of felony invasion of privacy in connection with the alleged blackmail. Additionally, Greitens was accused of illegally using a charity donor list to fund his 2016 gubernatorial campaign. Green’s two charges were dismissed after he resigned in June 2018. Several scandals in recent years led mainstream Republicans to worry about the risks posed by a Greitens candidacy and to be concern about a Senate seat being jeopardized by someone outside the Republican Party. Democrats are desperate to keep their razor-thin majority in the Senate, but their control is threatened by a challenging political environment, especially since President Biden has been unpopular and the economy has been struggling.
Greitens had Supported Trump Throughout his Senate Campaign
Greitens had aligned himself with Trump throughout his Senate campaign, including echoing Trump’s false allegations that widespread fraud tainted the 2020 presidential election. Kim Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., will act as the Co-Chair for Greitens’ campaign.
Nevertheless, the former president declined to provide Greitens with an unequivocal endorsement. “Eric” has been endorsed in Missouri’s GOP Senate primary, where two of the contenders are named Eric.
Missouri, I trust you on this one, I know that you’ll make up your own minds, Trump posted to his social media site on the eve of the primary. Greitens and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt promoted Trump’s announcement as a personal endorsement.
From RealClearPolitics’ average polling, Greitens is less of a favorite to win the Democratic nomination than either of his opponents in the Republican primary. After Eric Greitens’s ex-wife Sheena Greitens filed court documents in March alleging that he abused her and their young son, many top Republicans urged him to drop out.
“If you hit a woman or child, you should be in handcuffs and not in the Senate,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, the Missouri attorney general who investigated Greitens. According to BenBlunt himself, the candidate Todd Greitens should not be a candidate for the Senate if the accusations from Sheena Greitens are true.
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