Senator Roy blunt
Roy Dean BluntBiden Engages to Help Break Senate Jam Top Republican: ‘Scandalous’ Extend National Guard Deployment to Capitol Building Five Takeaways from Dramatic Capitol Security Hearing MOREThe unexpected announcement by (R-Mo.) On Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2022 is triggering a sudden fight between members of both parties.
For Republican leaders in the Senate, Blunt’s retirement is the latest in a series of coups ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Four other Republican senators have said they will not seek reelection next year, fueling Democratic hopes. not only to retain its ultra-narrow majority but to expand it.
But despite its previous status as a battlefield state, Missouri has shifted to the right in recent years, and Blunt’s retirement creates an opportunity for a candidate more closely aligned with the former. President Trump
Donald Trump United States and South Korea Reach Agreement on Troop Cost Share Graham: Trump May Make Republican Party Bigger, Stronger, or ‘Could Destroy’ It Biden Nominates Female Generals Whose Promotions Allegedly Delayed Under Trump MORE to succeed him. Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), for example, has already raised the idea of running for Blunt’s seat, arguing that his state’s top senator has not been loyal enough to Trump.
No Republican has officially announced a bid for Blunt’s seat, and there are no clear candidates for the lead. If he decides to run for Senate, Greitens would enter the race with a lot of baggage. He resigned as governor in 2018, less than a year and a half after taking office, in the face of multiple scandals and possible impeachment.
Other possible contenders for the Republican Party include Representatives. Ann wagner
Ann Louise WagnerGreene talks GOP after Hill’s story Marjorie Taylor Greene’s delay tactics frustrate GOP Democrats in politics, GOP Trump fights MORE (Mo.) and Jason smith
Jason Thomas SmithHouse Panel Advances Biden On The Money COVID-19 .9T Aid Bill: House Panel Discusses GameStop, Robinhood | Manchin meets wage advocates | Yellen Says Go Big, GOP Says GOP Highlights Unspent Aid Funds By Criticizing Biden’s Plan MORE (Mo) as well as Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, State Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, son of former US Attorney General John Ashcroft, who once held the other seat in the Missouri Senate.
In a statement Monday, Ashcroft left the door open for a possible Senate bid in 2022, saying he is weighing “how I can better serve the state of Missouri.”
“It is imperative that Republicans win back the Senate in 2022,” Ashcroft said. “Katie and I will be praying and talking with friends and family about how I can better serve the state of Missouri.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), chairman of the Senate Republican National Committee, promised Monday “to ensure that Senator Blunt’s successor will uphold his legacy of free enterprise and small government and we will fill this position.”
“Any candidate who supports the agenda of the great socialist government of the Democrats will have a difficult time finding votes in Missouri, a state that Donald Trump won four months ago by more than 15 points,” Scott said in a statement.
Winning the Senate race in Missouri is likely to be an uphill battle for Democrats, who have lost nearly every race statewide over the past decade. They plan to contest the seat in 2022, although there is still no clear favorite to win the nomination.
State Senator Scott Sifton announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination last month and quickly garnered the endorsement of State Auditor Nicole Galloway, the only Democrat currently in elected office in the entire state. Activist Timothy Shepard has also launched a bid for Democratic assent.
But two high-profile Democrats have already pulled out of potential offers. Jason Kander, a former Missouri secretary of state who unsuccessfully challenged Blunt in 2016, noted Monday that he would not mount another Senate campaign while the former senator. Claire McCaskill
Claire Conner McCaskill Memorandum: Punish Trump or Risk Repetition, Warns Democrats Republican Senators Blasted for Seeming Paying Little Heed to Trial Hawley Watch Trial From Visitors Gallery MORE (D-Mo.), Who lost reelection in 2018 to the senator. Josh hawley
Joshua (Josh) David Hawley DeSantis, Pence tied in 2024 Republican poll Chamber of Commerce clarifies stance on lawmakers who voted against voter certification Crenshaw pours cold water on 2024 White House bid: ‘Something will emerge ‘MORE (R-Mo.), He said emphatically that “he would never run for office again.”
“To all who are asking: thank you to the many who have said kind things. But I will never run for office again, ”McCaskill tweeted. “No. It won’t happen. Never. I’m so happy that sometimes I feel guilty.”
Republicans seek to regain control of the Senate in 2022 after losing it in January after a pair of Democratic victories in the Georgia runoff elections. And while midterm elections tend to favor the party out of power in Washington (Democrats now control the White House and both houses of Congress), Republicans face a particularly challenging electoral map that now includes a handful of seats. vacancies.
By refusing to run for a third term in the Senate, Blunt joins Sens. Richard Burr
Richard Mauze BurrRick Scott caught in the middle of opposing Republican factions Bipartisan bill would prohibit lawmakers from buying and selling Republican stocks, please save your party MORE (RN.C.), Pat toomey
Patrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeySasse reprimanded by Nebraska Republican Party for impeachment vote Philadelphia Republican Commissioner for censorship: ‘I would suggest they censure Republican elected officials who are lying’ Toomey censured by various Republican County committees Pennsylvania for impeachment vote MORE (R-Pa.), Rob portman
Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanSchumer Insists Democrats Unify After Chaotic Coronavirus Debate Republicans vote in unison against COVID-19 relief bill Senate passes broad coronavirus measure in partisan vote MORE (R-Ohio) and Richard Shelby
Richard Craig ShelbyCBC ‘unequivocally’ endorses Shalanda Young for White House budget chief Black Caucus members pressure Biden to appoint Shalanda Young to head of OMB On The Money: Senate panels postpone meetings of Tanden in negative signal | Biden signs supply chain order after ‘positive’ meeting with lawmakers MORE (R-Ala.), Who have announced retirement plans. Two other Republican incumbents, Sens. Chuck grassley
Chuck Grassley White House Open to Reform War Powers Amid Bipartisan Push Garland’s GA Nomination Delayed by GOP Hurdles National Marshals Association Supports Biden’s Choice for Key Department Role of Justice MORE (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson
Ronald (Ron) Harold Johnson Marjorie Taylor Greene’s delay tactics frustrate Republican Democrats preparing for public relations battle over COVID-19 relief Johnson says leaving office after 2022 ‘is probably my preference now ‘ PLUS (R-Wis.), They have not yet said whether they will seek reelection next year.
A Republican operative said Blunt’s announcement was “surprising” but “not entirely unexpected,” given the upcoming retirements of a handful of Senate Republicans and Trump’s repeated threats to support primary challenges to Republican rulers he considers They are out of step with his vision of the Republican Party.
Blunt, 71, has been a fixture in Washington for decades. He held the Republican leadership in the House for years before entering the Senate and rising to become the fourth-highest-ranking Republican in the House. He was widely expected to seek re-election in 2022 and even said earlier this year that he was still planning to run for a third term.
While Blunt had been largely supportive of Trump (he voted to acquit the former president in his two impeachment trials), he still faced potential headwinds within his own party. Greitens criticized Blunt in a radio interview last month for “siding with Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Democrats near pressure point on eliminating obstructionism We need an alternative solution to voting rights Biden takes the victory lap after the Senate passes the coronavirus relief package MORE, ”The Republican leader of the Kentucky Senate whose relationship with Trump has deteriorated in recent months.
Democrats touted Blunt’s retirement as the latest sign of the GOP’s post-Trump political wounds. Senator Gary Peters
Gary Peters Senate rejects Cruz’s effort to block stimulus checks for undocumented immigrants Democratic centrists flex power over Biden legislation Alarming threat triggers early exit, underscoring security fears MORE (D-Mich.), Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said Blunt’s announcement amounted to “a broader statement on where the Republican Party is today and the willingness of sitting senators to say they’ve had enough. “.
“I think it actually says a lot about what’s going on in the Republican Party right now,” Peters told reporters in a video call. Sen. Blunt is now the fifth Republican senator to say he will not run for another term, and I think that certainly means that Republicans see his party as in trouble. “
“We will be looking at Missouri, clearly, with a retiring Republican senator,” he continued. “I know there are a number of highly qualified people who are interested in running for the United States Senate.”