Potential Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Missouri are dropping like flies. Following Ann Wagner’s bombshell snub of the NRSC, now Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler announced today that she would not be running for Senate.
Hartzler’s announcement adds humiliation to the NRSC’s failure to recruit a seasoned candidate in Missouri:
- After Wagner’s announcement she would not run, the GOP turned to Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley and Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, who began receiving phone calls, “with some deep-pocketed donors and GOP strategists asking the Harrisonville Republican if she’s planning to run for the U.S. Senate.”
- Hartzler was seen as “an attractive candidate for the GOP because she outpolled Trump in her district and originally won the seat in 2010 by defeating veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton.”
- Top Republicans like the chairwoman of the Republican Fourth District Committee, Carla Young, had said, “If the Congresswoman would want to do this I think it is fantastic. She is absolutely wonderful representing us in D.C. I think it would be a great move.”
“Missouri Republicans are afraid to take on Senator Claire McCaskill in 2018,” said American Bridge spokesperson Joshua Karp. “Two top potential challengers have already announced they are bowing out, and the reason is clear: no Republican wants to risk their career defending the GOP’s devastating Trumpcare bill and a dysfunctional, chaotic White House.”
Published: Jul 17, 2017