Missouri Republicans pick Eric Schmitt for Senate race, rejecting Eric Greitens. Democrats tap Budweiser heiress.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Tuesday won the Republican nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R), dominating a crowded field and trouncing his two nearest competitors — Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) and scandal-tainted former Gov. Eric Greitens (R) — by an unexpectedly wide margin. Schmitt will face Anheuser-Busch beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine, who beat progressive Marine veteran Lucas Kunce in the Democratic primary.

John Wood, a Republican former U.S. attorney and top investigator on the House Jan. 6 committee, is also running as an independent, backed by up to $20 million from former Sen. John Danforth's (R-Mo.) political action committee. Schmitt is the heavy favorite in November. If Greitens had won the GOP nomination, as polls suggested until a few weeks ago, Democrats believed they had a shot of flipping the seat.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Former President Donald Trump had been lobbied hard to support both Greitens and Schmitt, and he decided to ambiguously endorse "ERIC" on Monday night. Both Schmitt and Greitens announced that Trump was endorsing them — though a third Eric, comedian and Navy veteran Eric McElroy, was also on the GOP ballot. Tuesday's Late Show skewered Trump's "ERIC" endorsement.

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Valentine, 65, is a philanthropist and the daughter of August Busch Jr., the longtime head of St. Louis-based Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch. She said she entered the race after witnessing the "division in our country and the vitriol in our politics," pitching herself as an outsider. "After hundreds of career politicians, it's time for a nurse in the Senate," she said in a victory speech.

Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.