Political Wire

Hawley Insists He’s In a Close Race with McCaskill

· Leave a Comment

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) moved “to quell spiraling anxiety among senior Republicans and top party donors that his bid to oust vulnerable Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is slowly slipping away,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“In a memo issued to campaign contributors, but also directed toward nitpicking Republican officials in Washington, Hawley revealed fresh polling that shows a close but stable race with McCaskill that has been unaffected by the deepening sex scandal engulfing embattled GOP Gov. Eric Greitens.”

The OnMessage survey showed Hawley narrowly edging McCaskill, 47% to 46%.

GOP Implodes Again for McCaskill

· Leave a Comment

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) “is up for reelection. And, like clockwork, the Republican Party of Missouri is in complete turmoil again,” Politico reports.

“McCaskill won a second term term in 2012 when GOP Rep. Todd Akin’s campaign imploded in the wake of his comments about “legitimate rape.” Now, Republicans worry GOP Gov. Eric Greitens’ mounting scandals will inundate McCaskill’s likely Republican opponent, state Attorney General Josh Hawley, and bestow another term on one of the most endangered incumbent senators in the country.”

Staffer Says Greitens Won’t Campaign for Hawley

· Leave a Comment

Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley (R) appears to be distancing himself from embattled Gov. Eric Greitens (R) as he prepares to kick into full gear his campaign to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), the Missourian reports.

Hawley consultant Brad Todd told reporters that Greitens “has plenty of things on his plate” and said not to expect him on the campaign trail.

Said Todd: “The election is going to be a whole lot more about what happens on the floor of the Senate than in the basement of the Greitens’ house.”

Roy Moore Endorses In Missouri Senate Race

· Leave a Comment

“Former judge Roy Moore has endorsed a controversial conservative firebrand for the Senate race in Missouri, in his first major political move since losing his own Senate campaign in Alabama last year,” the Washington Post reports.

“Moore, who was defeated after multiple women accused him of making sexual advances toward them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, has put his weight behind Courtland Sykes, a Navy veteran who has called feminists ‘she-devils‘ and said he would not want daughters who were ‘career-obsessed banshees.'”

Said Moore: “Courtland is a man of impeccable character, courage, and Christian faith. We need men like Courtland Sykes in the Senate of the United States, a leader who will not only say what is right, but also a leader who will do what is right!”

Republicans Have a Big Problem In Missouri

· Leave a Comment

First Read: “The felony indictment of Republican Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens — for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman with whom he was having an affair — could have a ripple effect well beyond the governor’s mansion.”

“For one thing, Missouri is holding one of the most competitive Senate races in the country between incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and likely GOP opponent Josh Hawley, who just happens to be the state’s top law-enforcement official as state attorney general. Additionally, the Greitens matter isn’t going away anytime soon, because Greitens is fighting the charge, and because the state House is investigating it.”

“The McCaskill-Hawley race, right now, is viewed as a 50-50 contest, with control of the U.S. Senate possibly on the line for whichever party wins it. And this felony indictment will be in the background. Possibly for months.”

Nervous Republicans Seek New Senate Candidates

· Leave a Comment

“Republicans worried about holding on to their Senate majority are trying to convince three lawmakers to reconsider their decisions and run for the upper chamber,” The Hill reports.

“Reps. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Ann Wagner (R-MO) are being encouraged to launch Senate bids after initially passing on those races, while Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) is hearing calls to put off his retirement and run for reelection.”

“The last-minute maneuvering suggests the GOP primary fields may not be settled just eight months before the November midterm elections and highlights an increasing nervousness among Republicans that their Senate majority — once seen as nearly invincible  — may be at risk.”

Hawley Blames Sex Trafficking on the Sexual Revolution

· Leave a Comment

Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley (R) linked the problem of sex trafficking to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, according to leaked audio obtained by the Kansas City Star.

Said Hawley: “We have a human trafficking crisis in our state and in this city and in our country because people are willing to purchase women, young women, and treat them like commodities. There is a market for it. Why is there? Because our culture has completely lost its way. The sexual revolution has led to exploitation of women on a scale that we would never have imagined, never have imagined.”

Hawley Falls Short on Fundraising

· Leave a Comment

Josh Hawley (R), the Republican party’s top pick to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) — widely regarded as the most vulnerable Senate incumbent in the nation — raised just shy of $1 million in final three months of last year, McClatchy reports.

“Hawley, the Missouri attorney general, is fundraising well ahead of other Republicans in the field. But he’s far short of the $2.9 million McCaskill collected during the fourth quarter of 2017.”

GOP Candidate Rails Against ‘Feminist She Devils’

· Leave a Comment

Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Courtland Sykes (R) has ignited a social media firestorm with a Facebook post in which he calls feminists “she devils” and expounds on how he wants his wife to cook his dinner, the Kansas City Star reports.

Sykes wrote that he rejects “radical feminism’s crazed definition of modern womanhood” and that he wants daughters who will be homemakers rather than “career obsessed banshees” or “nailbiting manophobic feminist she devils.”

Independent Could Tip Missouri Senate Race

· Leave a Comment

Kansas City lawyer Craig O’Dear “could shake up one of the most competitive Senate races in the country as he seriously considers running as a centrist independent against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and her eventual Republican challenger,” the Kansas City Star reports.

“O’Dear could play a significant role in the Missouri election because early polls show McCaskill and Josh Hawley (R) locked in a tight race.”

McCaskill Took Action to Hide Travel on Private Plane

· Leave a Comment

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) took action earlier this year to make her family’s private plane untrackable by the public, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

“The company hired by McCaskill to operate the plane, a 2009 Pilatus PC-12/47E, wrote to the FAA earlier this year in April to ask that tracking information on the plane be blocked from the public, according to email records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon through a Freedom of Information Act request.”

Hawley Will Challenge McCaskill

· Leave a Comment

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) officially announced his intention to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in 2018, the Kansas City Star reports.

“Hawley’s official announcement also comes shortly after The Star reported that Hawley had been reaching out to former White House strategist Steve Bannon amid speculation that Bannon, executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart, may back another candidate.”

Bannon’s site praised Hawley over the weekend, calling him a “hardcore conservative who will not go along to get along like McConnell wants in Washington.”

McCaskill Accuses Rival of Violating Residency Law

· Leave a Comment

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) “accused Missouri’s top law enforcement officer, who is weighing a campaign against her, of violating a state law that requires the attorney general to reside in Jefferson City,” the Kansas City Star reports.

Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) “has faced questions about his residency since taking office in January.”

Said McCaskill: “The law’s pretty clear. There’s never been an attorney general in the history of our state that hasn’t lived in Jefferson City because the law says ‘shall.’ Listen, I’m a Mizzou-educated lawyer, but I can keep up and I know what the word ‘shall’ means in the law. And I know he went to Yale, I think, or Harvard — one of those, one of those fancy ones — I think they taught him the same thing that shall means shall.”

Top Recruit Won’t Challenge McCaskill

· Leave a Comment

Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner (R) “has opted against a 2018 Senate bid, choosing re-election to the House over challenging vulnerable Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO),” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Wagner’s surprise move, finalized over the weekend, is a blow to the Republican Party. She was the leadership’s prized Senate recruit in Missouri and viewed as the answer to McCaskill, endangered but scrappy.”

Outside Group Backs McCaskill with Ads

· Leave a Comment

“A nonprofit controlled by allies of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is spending $500,000 on radio ads backing Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, an early cash injection bucking up one of the most vulnerable Democrats facing reelection in 2018,” Politico reports.

“Majority Forward is paying for the ads, which will air statewide over the next four weeks. Majority Forward is affiliated with Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC that supports Senate Democrats. The ads are the first from either group aimed at the 2018 elections, when 10 Senate Democrats are up for reelection in states President Donald Trump carried last fall.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

More about Taegan Goddard →