JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt won Missouri’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating a scandal-plagued former governor and a six-term congresswoman on his way to the nomination.
Schmitt was winning about 45% of the Republican primary vote in the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. His closest competitors, former Gov. Eric Greitens and U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, were trailing, with Hartzler taking 23% and Greitens winning 19% of the vote with 51% of the expected vote in, according to Politico.
Before 8:30 p.m. Central time, U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, another contender in the GOP primary, said he had conceded to Schmitt. The Associated Press called the race for Schmitt at about 9 p.m.
About 350 people had come out to Schmitt’s election watch party in Maryland Heights on Tuesday night.
The attorney general previewed a likely line of attack for the general election, touting his working-class roots as a native of Bridgeton and implicitly comparing himself to the leader in the Democratic primary, Trudy Busch Valentine, daughter of beer baron August "Gussie" Busch.
"I don't come from billions; I come from Bridgeton," Schmitt told supporters.
Valentine, who had secured the backing of many in the Democratic Party establishment, was leading her closest rival, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce, who on Monday received the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
With 49% of expected votes in, Valentine was winning 44% of the Democratic vote while Kunce had captured 38%, according to Politico.
While Valentine held a large advantage in St. Louis, St. Louis County and in surrounding metro counties, Kunce was leading in parts of mid-Missouri, including Boone and Cole counties, as well as in parts of southeast and northeast Missouri.
Schmitt, the 47-year-old attorney general, portrayed himself as the electable alternative to Greitens in the closing hours of the race, after former President Donald Trump endorsed "Eric" late Monday.
Greitens, after sharing the Trump endorsement with Schmitt, characterized his rival as a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only, and a “career politician.”
In brief remarks to supporters in Chesterfield on Tuesday, after results showed him losing by a wide margin, an upbeat Greitens thanked them and said, "God has a plan. It doesn't always work on our timeline."
Greitens resigned in 2018 after admitting to an affair with his hairdresser and being accused of invasion of privacy by the St. Louis circuit attorney. He also faced felony charges connected to a charity donor list his 2016 campaign received.
Schmitt, who dismissed Greitens as a quitter, cast himself as a conservative fighter, pointing to his list of lawsuits against President Joe Biden’s administration and actions against local governments and school districts.
The attorney general’s actions appealed to Joel Gilson, 40, of Jefferson City, who said he voted for Schmitt in the primary. “He actually is doing his job,” Gilson said. “He went against the mask mandates.”
At 7:30 p.m. at the EPIC Empowerment campus in Chesterfield, Greitens supporters were gathered amid a slew of reporters and camera operators awaiting results.
Even though Greitens has lost key supporters — including his wife and former campaign manager — during his years of scandal, at least one former Cabinet member from his administration showed up at the ex-governor's watch party.
“He’s the same Eric I went to work for,” said Drew Juden, 65, who served as director of the Department of Public Safety under Greitens. “What you see is what you get. It's a shame that some people have chosen to attack him unjustly.”
“There’s a need for him, to have a true military person that would help get the funding for things we need, and know what we need to keep us safe,” said Ralph Turney, 85, of St. Charles, chairman of a global holding company.
Steve Nickel, 67, of the Sappington area of south St. Louis County, was among the crowd who showed up Tuesday for Greitens’ election night party.
“I think he’s going to take it,” Nickel said. “I am really not worried.”
Nickel, a retired small-business owner and Eagle Scout who voted for Barack Obama and Donald Trump, said he volunteered for the Greitens campaign, the first time he’d put his own shoulder to the political wheel since Ross Perot ran for president.
“Grassroots,” Nickel said from under a black cowboy hat. “I don’t care for these politicians who are in it for themselves.”
On the Democratic side, Zachary Stickann, 43, of Jefferson City, cast his vote for Lucas Kunce, about a mile away from where Kunce grew up in a “forgotten” house that has featured in his campaign. His wife, Laura Stickann, 43, voted for Spencer Toder.
“I’m not going to vote for an heiress if that’s one of their main claims to fame,” he said, referring to Valentine.
“She also didn’t do hardly any campaigning,” said Laura Stickann, also 43.
“I think he’s a breath of fresh air,” Stickann said of Toder. “It would be wonderful if he would win the primary; I don’t know if he will. I don’t know that enough people know about him.”
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