Missouri August 7th State Primary Preview

On Tuesday, August 7, Missouri primary voters will go to the polls to select who will be on the ballot in the general election on November 6.

Missouri U.S. Senate Race

The top race in Missouri is the hotly contested U.S. Senate race for the seat held by Claire McCaskill (D), seeking her third six-year term. It has national consequences for the direction of the nation, Supreme Court nominees, border wall and immigration security and other issues.

Josh Hawley, Missouri’s popular Attorney General, is the presumptive Republican nominee and has the exclusive dual endorsements of Missouri Right to Life and National Right to Life. Hawley must beat a field of 10 other Republican candidates, all of whom are political outsiders with none having held elected office.

National media recently described Hawley as a candidate who is “squeaky clean” as they discussed the millions in “dark money” advertising being directed at him by the McCaskill campaign and others.

For her part, McCaskill has been seen as a strong supporter of the military, education and other issues that receive wide support. But, she has often been criticized for siding with the ultra-liberal wing of her party on issues abortion, border security traditional marriage and  ObamaCare which puts her at odds with the vast majority of her constituents in the state.

The Jackson County Republican Party has been cautious to not support the front-runner Hawly even though he is the favored Republican candidate to win.

“I believe very strongly we are still in a primary and I will not support one candidate over another and I think it is wrong when our state party does that,” Mark Anthony Jones, Chairman of the Jackson County Republican party said.

President Trump and the Republican National Committee have thrown their support behind Hawley.

The Missouri U.S. Senate race is considered a top-tier race for both Republicans and Democrats nationally. Republican control of the Senate could hang in the balance with the outcome of this race for the seat held by McCaskill since 2007. Confirmation of Presidential appointees to the Supreme Court are controlled by the party in power in the Senate. McCaskill has become one of the most unpopular democrats in Missouri in recent memory and is considered by the Democratic National Committee as one of the most vulnerable incumbents. Currently, over $5 million in television advertising against Hawley has been donated to her campaign by liberal groups and activists such as George Soros.

5^th District Congressional Race

Jacob Turk has been the Republican nominee for the race for the 5^th District Congressional seat held by Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver for the last six election cycles. Cleaver is unopposed in the Democratic primary and Turk faces Richonda Oaks and new candidate, Kress Cambers, in the Republican primary.

Turk is the only candidate in the primary to be endorsed by both the National Right to Life and Missouri Right to Life Political Action Committees.

Jones calls Kress Cambers “a fresh face” in the Republican primary. “Kress is awesome and I love the energy he brings to the campaign,” he said.

Turk roiled some Republicans last year when he entered the special election for Missouri State 8^th District Senate seat that was held by Will Kraus causing the party to go on the defensive.

But Turk remains popular with the average Republican primary voter in the district. Though not haven beaten Cleaver, Turk’s vote count is impressive. He has come closer than any Republican in a generation in unseating a sitting Democrat and lost by a little over 10,000 votes. Political pundits and his supporters consider that an amazing feat in a district where urban Democrats heavily outnumber suburban Republicans.

6^th Congressional District Race

Sam Graves, whose 6^th District seat extends from northwest Missouri southeast through Kansas City and into Lee’s Summit. The district was gerrymandered several years ago, taking a large chunk of traditionally Republican Lee’s Summit out of the Democratic stronghold of the 5^th District and putting it into the more conservative 6^th District. That made Cleaver’s 5^th District safer for Democrats.

Graves is unopposed in his primary.

4^th Congressional District Race

In the 4th Congressional District (which encompasses the southern parts of the Kansas City Metro) Republican primary, popular Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler of Harrisonville faces John Webb. On the Democrat side,  and Hallie J. Thompson, both of Columbia, Missouri, will square off to face Hartzler or Webb.

Hartzler has proven herself a reliable conservative and friend to

values-based public policy on everything from the pro-life issue, education, the military, healthcare, border security and Israel. And, in an era when the media criticizes the Republican Party for not having enough women, she has helped break the “old white guy” image of conservative politics in the Show-Me-State.

 

Missouri State Auditor

Nicole Galloway (D), who was appointed as State Auditor in 2015 by former Missouri Governor Jay Nixon following the suicide of former State Auditor, Tom Schweich, faces her first race for election as State Auditor.

Paul Curtman (R), a four-term Missouri State Representative from suburban St. Louis is known as a champion for conservative Republicans. As the only Republican candidate for Auditor who has established a conservative statewide following, Curtman hosts annual “In Defense of Liberty” events and has been a leader in the Missouri House of Representatives on government efficiency and accountability.

The Republican primary ballot for Auditor is led by Kevin Roach, who describes himself as a 7^th generation Missourian from St. Louis County who wants to modernize the Office of State Auditor” and “restore respect to the citizens and taxpayers.”

St. Louis lawyer and CPA, David Wasinger has led the Republican field for Auditor in fundraising, having reported over $883,000 for the primary on August 7, more than the other three candidates combined. Wasinger has garnered the endorsement of some prominent Republican leaders, including Missouri Senate President Pro Tempore, Ron Richard (R).

Saundra McDowell is an attorney who has worked in the offices of the both the Missouri Attorney General and Secretary of State as a fraud investigator and litigator is an Air Force veteran is running on a platform of fighting government waste and fraud. She is the mother of five children, including two sets of twins.