GOP’s Schmitt hoping to claim open Missouri Senate seat

By JIM SALTER

O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is hoping to claim what’s considered a safe GOP seat as his party fights for control of the U.S. Senate. Schmitt and Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine are vying for the seat occupied for the past 12 years by Republican Roy Blunt, who announced in March 2021 that he would not seek a third term. Schmitt largely campaigned against Democratic President Joe Biden and inflation, characterizing Valentine as an out-of-touch heiress who would side with the Democratic president over Missourians. Valentine’s campaign catch-phrase was “nobody’s senator but yours,” and she slammed Schmitt for voting as a state senator to allow foreign ownership of farmland and over his support of the state’s ban on abortion.