According to a report from the Associated Press, the continuing campaign by former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) has both Republicans in his state and nationally cringing with fear that he will lose the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R).
Greitens, who was forced from office in 2018 during an investigation into a sex scandal that involved bondage and blackmail, which led to felony charges that were later dropped, jumped into the Senate fray with Donald Trump's benign blessing -- but not his endorsement just yet.
While the U.S. Senate leadership has stood on the sidelines watching how it plays out with voters, Missouri Republicans are going public with their fears that Greitens will crash and burn if he makes it to the general election.
"He is among the frontrunners in a crowded field of Republican Senate candidates that includes U.S. House members Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long, Attorney General Eric Schmitt and the St. Louis lawyer who made headlines by pointing a gun at racial injustice protesters outside his home, Mark McCloskey," the report states with opponent Hartzler making the case that she sees him as unelectable.
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“There’s hardly any women in the state who will vote for him," she said in a phone interview, with her pollster, John Hancock, adding, "Certainly suburban women would be a concern, but I think the problems extend far beyond that."
According to the report, recent election history in Missouri lends credence to their concerns.
"It wouldn’t be the first time Missouri women played a pivotal role in deciding a Senate race. In 2012, Democrat Claire McCaskill carried women voters by 22 percentage points in easily defeating the late Republican Todd Akin. The lopsided election followed a TV interview in which Akin, a staunch abortion opponent, said pregnancy in cases of 'legitimate rape' was uncommon because women’s bodies were able to prevent it," AP's Jim Salter reports.
In a recent interview with Trump, conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt pleaded with the former president to not endorse Greitens by bluntly stating, "That's a nightmare, Mr. President. We'll lose that seat," with Trump replying that Greitens holds a substantial lead in the polls.
You can read more here.