Missouri attorney general announces Senate run against McCaskill

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) on Tuesday formally announced that he will run for Senate in 2018 against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

Hawley’s entry into the race had been expected for months, and he formed an exploratory committee in early August for a potential run in one of 2018’s marquee Senate races. The Associated Press first reported his announcement.

Hawley released an announcement video, saying he didn’t plan to run for the upper chamber. A senior adviser to Hawley said in a statement to AP that the Missouri Republican will formally kick off his campaign next year, including holding campaign events.

{mosads}”It’s time to do something new,” Hawley said in the video. “America is an exceptional place, and it’s still a young country. Its future is worth fighting for. So let’s get ready and do our part.”

“Senator McCaskill, she’s been in D.C. forever. She’s turned her back on farmers, she’s ignored working families, she’s been wrong on every Supreme Court nominee for the last 11 years,” Hawley said. “She doesn’t represent us. It’s time to do something new.”

The conservative Club for Growth PAC was quick to throw its support behind Hawley, calling him “an ideal candidate who possesses conservative credentials.” 

“Unlike out-of-touch liberal Claire McCaskill, Missourians will be able to count on Josh to be a strong voice for fiscal sanity,” said Club for Growth PAC president David McIntosh. “Josh also isn’t afraid to tackle the cronyism that plagues Claire McCaskill and the rest of the Washington swamp.”

McCaskill’s campaign took aim at Hawley’s announcement, accusing him of lying for two months about whether he was running or not.

“We applaud Josh for coming clean about his intention to run and look forward to contrasting his record of broken promises with Claire’s record of listening to Missourians and breaking through gridlock to get things done for them,” David Kirby, McCaskill’s campaign manager, said.

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm was also quick to target Hawley, questioning whether he’ll also disavow President Trump like former Sen. Jack Danforth (R-Mo.) who called Trump “the most divisive president in our history” in an August op-ed.

“Establishment politician Josh Hawley, breaking his signature pledge as Attorney General, is now both climbing the political ladder and straddling a barbed-wire political fence,” said David Bergstein, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman.

“Instead of doing his job as attorney general, he refused to pursue a corruption complaint against a top donor, he failed to create a Public Corruption Unit he campaigned on until questioned by the media, and he still hasn’t explained if he agrees with his mentor Jack Danforth on whether the GOP should disavow Donald Trump,” Bergstein added.