Eric Schmitt beats former Gov. Eric Greitens in Missouri GOP Senate primary, NBC projects

Those and other scandals led mainstream Republicans to worry about a Greitens candidacy jeopardizing the party’s hold on a Senate seat in a state that otherwise reliably votes Republicans into high office. Democrats are desperate to keep their razor-thin majority in the Senate, but their control of the chamber is threatened by a challenging political environment, exacerbated by President Joe Biden‘s unpopularity and recent economic turmoil.

Greitens had aligned himself completely with Trump during his Senate campaign, including echoing Trump’s false claims about widespread fraud tainting the 2020 presidential election. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., joined Greitens’ campaign as national co-chair.

But the former president ultimately did not give Greitens a full-throated endorsement. Rather, he bizarrely endorsed “Eric” in the Missouri GOP Senate primary, where two of the top candidates are named Eric.

“I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds,” Trump said in a social media post on the eve of the primary.

Both Greitens and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt touted Trump’s announcement as though it were a personal endorsement.

Polling averages from RealClearPolitics showed Greitens had a smaller lead over a top Democratic primary candidate than either of his two biggest competitors in the Republican primary.

After Sheena Greitens filed court documents in March alleging Eric Greitens abused her and their young son while they were married, numerous top Republicans called on Greitens to drop out.

“If you hit a woman or a child, you belong in handcuffs, not the United States Senate,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who had investigated Greitens when he was Missouri’s attorney general.

Blunt himself said that Greitens “should not be a candidate for the Senate” if Sheena Greitens’ allegations are true.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the photo of Eric Schmitt.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/02/eric-greitens-loses-missouri-gop-senate-primary-nbc-projects.html