Ever since the Missouri Senate seat came open last year after Republican Roy Blunt announced his retirement, Republicans have wanted one thing: for the Show Me State to show them anyone but former Gov. Eric Greitens as their nominee. Throughout the contest, there’s been a growing, palpable fear that the disgraced former Navy SEAL and Rhodes Scholar could win enough of a plurality in the crowded primary and force the GOP to spend in a general election contest they shouldn’t have to defend.
That was still the scenario when we last profiled the race at the beginning of April. But polls in the past few weeks have assuaged Republican strategists, with a clear trend of Greitens falling to third place. Attorney General Eric Schmitt is now leading the field, with Rep. Vicky Hartzler is not too far behind. The Show Me Values PAC has spent more than $5.7 million on TV ads, according to AdImpact, pummeling Greitens. They’ve focused not on the sex scandal and ethics claims that caused Greitens to resign just a year into his term in
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