Charlie Riedel/AP Photo; Insider
Republican state attorney general Eric Schmitt is running against Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine to represent Missouri in the US Senate.
The race is pegged as “solid Republican.”
If elected, Schmitt will keep a red Senate seat red.
Republican Eric Schmitt faces off against Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine in Missouri to represent the state in the US Senate.
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, who has represented Missouri in the US Senate since 2011, announced he would not seek reelection to a 3rd term, leaving the seat vacant.
Missouri’s US Senate race candidates
Schmitt serves as the attorney general of Missouri, a position he was appointed to by Republican Gov. Mike Parsons following former Attorney General Josh Hawley’s election to the US Senate.
Prior to being appointed attorney general, Schmitt served as state treasurer and state senator.
Valentine, Schmitt’s opponent, is an heiress of the Anheuser-Busch beer fotune. She’s among 22 self-funding candidates who have together pumped more than $435 million into 2022 midterm races.
Valentine has personally invested significant amounts of her wealth in health insurance companies while pledging to “stand up” to health insurers, as Insider reported in July.
Missouri’s voting history
The state voted for then-President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden by a margin of about 15 percentage points in the 2020 election. Missouri has consecutively voted Republican in the last six presidential elections.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Schmitt has raised $5.7 million, spent $5.4 million, and has $279,234 cash on hand, as of October 19.
His opponent, Valentine, has raised $12 million, spent $11.6 million, and has $327,578 cash on hand, as of October 19. Valentine has mostly self-funded her campaign.
As of late October, over several dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend about $31.2 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race’s highly contested primary phase.
What experts say
The race between Schmitt and Valentine is rated as “solid Republican” by Inside Elections, “solid Republican” by The Cook Political Report, and “safe Republican” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.