ERIC GREITENS

A half-dozen mainstream Republican Senate candidates are drawing on the white “replacement" conspiracy theory to court voters this campaign season.

Former President Donald Trump enters the next stretch of the midterm campaign emboldened by primary victories but facing new risks.

Members of a grand jury that indicted an investigator in the criminal case against former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens urged a state disciplinary board to take stronger action against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, calling her conduct “reprehensible.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday reported that grand jury members last month sent a letter detailing their concerns to St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison, and asked him to forward it to the Missouri Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel.

Some Republicans worry that if the scandal-plagued former governor were to win the primary, it would place a Senate seat considered to be safely GOP in jeopardy.

In a story published April 27, 2022, about a controversial clemency issued by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Kyle Hedquist was 17 when he committed murder.

Why a GOP takeover in this fall’s midterms is not quite a sure thing

Candidates such as Herschel Walker, Eric Greitens and Max Miller have been accused of abusing partners and, in some cases, children. But some party leaders aren't convinced voters will reject them.

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, whose ex-wife recently accused him of physical abuse, says he will not drop his political comeback bid for the U.S. Senate.

Greitens has emerged as a leading contender for the Republican nomination for one of Missouri's U.S. Senate seats.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has reached an agreement with the Missouri Office of Disciplinary Counsel in which she acknowledges mistakes in her handling of the prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens but won’t face any severe penalties for those mistakes.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has reached an agreement with the Missouri Office of Disciplinary Counsel in which she acknowledges mistakes in her handling of the prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens but won't face severe penalties for those mistakes. In the agreement, Gardner concedes that she failed to produce documents and mistakenly maintained that all documents had been provided to Greitens' lawyers in the 2018 criminal case. The panel would still need to sign off on the agreement and make a recommendation within 30 days to the Missouri Supreme Court.

The ex-wife of Eric Greitens said in a sworn statement that the former Missouri governor and current U.S. Senate candidate has become erratic and unhinged since she accused him of abuse in an earlier court filing. Sheena and Eric Greitens have been trading accusations in a child custody case. In a March affidavit, Sheena Greitens said her ex-husband was physically abusive and demonstrated “unstable and coercive behavior” so concerning that steps were taken to limit his access to firearms.

Anheuser-Busch beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine on Tuesday announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate, shaking up what has been a low-profile Democratic primary in a solidly red state. Busch Valentine's entrance into the race comes amid widespread calls from fellow Republicans for former Gov. Eric Greitens to drop out of the race after his ex-wife accused him of physically abusing her and one of their kids. In a Monday announcement dropping out of the Democratic primary, former state Sen. Scott Sifton endorsed Busch Valentine and called on other Democrats to unite behind her.

The investigator who played a key role in former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ resignation in 2018 has pleaded guilty to evidence tampering.

Why Republicans are talking about pedophilia this week, how contempt is shaping Ohio's U.S. Senate primary, and what's happening in the race to replace Don Young.

President Biden's Supreme Court pick is taking her first questions from senators on the second day of her confirmation hearings.

The ex-wife of Missouri GOP Senate candidate Eric Greitens has accused him of physical abuse.

The former Missouri governor has been part of a child custody battle with his ex-wife Sheena Greitens since April 2020.

The ex-wife of Missouri Senate candidate Eric Greitens accused him in court documents of knocking her down, taking away her cellphone, physically abusing their children and repeatedly threatening suicide if she did not publicly support him during the 2018 scandal that led to his resignation as governor.

For all their angst about the possibility of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens winning the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the state, GOP leaders haven’t coalesced behind an alternative.

Republicans versus the “enemy within,” a New Hampshire campaign that has nothing to do with the presidential primary, and a Supreme Court ruling with a cliffhanger ending.

A Missouri state senator punished for wearing overalls on the Senate floor blocked any work from getting done Tuesday in protest. Republican Sen. Mike Moon, a candidate for U.S. Congress who once videotaped himself gutting a chicken to make a political point, filibustered to stop even administrative tasks from moving forward. Moon read a book on prisoners of war before the Senate adjourned for the day without taking action.

Can a sex scandal in Missouri cost the GOP the U.S. Senate?

This time last year, the Republican Party was hitting bottom.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson doesn’t want to turn over records to an attorney about the number “407.1500.”

A U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, Republican state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, is flexing the power of his office by filing a slew of lawsuits, including against Democratic cities and schools to stop mask mandates.

Six months into the Biden administration, Senate Democrats are expressing a cautious optimism that the party can keep control of the chamber in the 2022 midterm elections, enjoying large fundraising hauls in marquee races as they plot to exploit Republican retirements in key battlegrounds and a divisive series of unsettled GOP primaries. Swing-state Democratic incumbents, like Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Mark Kelly of Arizona, restocked their war chests with multimillion-dollar sums ($7

Attorney General Eric Schmitt raised the most of any Missouri Republican Senate candidate last quarter with a haul of $1.3 million.

Trump reportedly told aides that he doesn't understand why Kimberly Guilfoyle joined Eric Greitens' Missouri Senate campaign, Politico reported.

The former president’s imprimatur is “the most important factor” to Republican candidates, strategists say, even as Trump advisers counsel for more sparing use.

Imposing new requirements on public sector unions but exempting police and firefighters was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled.

Republicans are ‘scared to death Eric Greitens is going to win a primary,’ said Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo.

Her attorney says the charges are politically motivated

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner – who famously recommended charges against the McCloskey’s for displaying weapons at their home as protesters marched through their neighborhood – is facing a disciplinary hearing on an unrelated matter that could result in the loss of her law license.

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2020 file photo, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt speaks during a news conference in St. Louis. – Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Wednesday announced he's making a bid to replace Roy Blunt in the Senate, setting up a Republican primary against disgraced former Gov. Voters first elected Schmitt to the state Senate in 2008 to represent a suburban St. Louis district. He was elected state treasurer in 2016, then took over as the state attorney general after Josh Hawley vacated the seat to join the U.S. Senate in 2019. He won another term as attorney general in 2020.

Brooks jumped into the race at an event on Monday with Stephen Miller, a former adviser to Mr. Trump. And as President Trump can vouch, I don't cut and run. Like Brooks, Greitens also amplified the false claim that Mr. Trump won the 2020 election. Hawley told reporters on Tuesday that he had spoken to Mr. Trump about the race. "I think he probably won't be involved," Hawley said about whether he believed Mr. Trump would endorse Greitens in the primary.

Greitens' political future seemed doomed by scandal when he resigned as Missouri governor. – O'Eric Greitens' political future seemed doomed by scandal when he resigned as Missouri governor. Also like Trump, Greitens defeated establishment Republicans in the primary before winning in November. Many see Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft as the early favorite to win Blunt's seat, if Ashcroft opts to run. But Missouri Republican Party Treasurer Pat Thomas said Greitens retains “a definite following” among state Republicans.

But officials in both parties agree that the surge of GOP departures will make the Republicans' challenge more difficult in the Senate. Several Missouri Republicans are expected to seek the nomination to replace Blunt, but none will be more divisive than former Gov. Ahead of Greitens' announcement, some Republicans worried that he could jeopardize the Senate seat if he emerges as the party's nominee. The former president won by the same margin in Iowa, where 87-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is considering retirement. AdMeanwhile, Blunt predicted political success for Republicans in Missouri and beyond during a Monday news conference.

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020 file photo, Missouri Republican Gov. Its the most hotly contested of the nations 11 governors races this fall. Which party holds the governor's office could be especially consequential over the next few years. In governor’s races, many of the attack ads are funded by each party’s governors association. In the governor’s race, he said Gianforte’s financial support of a Montana museum dedicated to creationist beliefs was a big problem.

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2020 file photo, Missouri Gov. Parson, a Republican who has steadfastly refused to require residents to wear mask, and First Lady Teresa Parson tested positive for COVID-19, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. – Missouri Gov. Two other Republican governors also have tested positive for COVID-19, though one of those turned out to be a false positive. Kevin Stitt in July became the first governor to announce he'd tested positive.

The McCloskey case drew Trump's attention, especially after Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner filed felony unlawful use of a weapon charges in July. A police probable cause statement said protesters feared being injured due to Patricia McCloskeys finger being on the trigger, coupled with her excited demeanor." They broke the gate down, Patricia McCloskey said on Fox & Friends." They had weapons, they had fire material.Mark McCloskey said on the Fox News program that Democrat-controlled St. Louis is a very dangerous place, and the statistics back him up. The people of St. Louis expect me to pursue equal justice under the law without fear or favor, and that is what I intend to do.Gardner, St. Louis first Black circuit attorney, was elected in 2016 and appears headed to another term.

FILE - In a Monday, Jan. 13, 2020 file photo, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner speaks in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jim Salter, File)ST. LOUIS St. Louis' top prosecutor faced a primary challenge on Tuesday after drawing criticism from President Donald Trump for filing charges against a couple who displayed guns at protesters marching near their home. Kim Gardner, the city's first Black circuit attorney, also received national attention when she filed criminal charges against Missouri's governor in 2018. She's being challenged in the Democratic primary by Mary Pat Carl, who is white and once served as the city's lead homicide prosecutor. St. Louis is overwhelmingly Democratic.

FILE - In a Monday, Jan. 13, 2020 file photo, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner speaks in St. Louis. Gardner became St. Louis' first Black circuit attorney when she was elected in 2016 and has enacted a progressive, reformist agenda. (AP Photo/Jim Salter, File)ST. LOUIS The fate of St. Louis elected prosecutor may rest with which side city voters fall in two competing national debates: criminal justice reform versus the push to crack down on crime. Kim Gardner became St. Louis first Black circuit attorney when she was elected in 2016 and has enacted a progressive, reformist agenda. Bill Hall, a professor of political science at Webster University in suburban St. Louis, said everything is coalescing in Gardners re-election bid.

FILE - In this June 28, 2020 file photo, armed homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey, standing in front their house along Portland Place confront protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house in the Central West End of St. Louis. St. Louis top prosecutor told The Associated Press on Monday, July 20, 2020 that she is charging a white husband and wife with felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a racial injustice protest outside their mansion. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP File)ST. LOUIS St. Louis top prosecutor told The Associated Press on Monday that she is charging a white husband and wife with felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a racial injustice protest outside their mansion. It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner that is unlawful in the city of St. Louis, Gardner said. Gardner, St. Louis first Black circuit attorney, has been at odds with some in the St. Louis establishment since her election in 2016.

FILE - In this June 28, 2020 file photo, armed homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey, standing in front their house along Portland Place confront protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house in the Central West End of St. Louis. Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday urged Attorney General William Barr to launch a federal civil rights investigation of St. Louis' elected prosecutor, accusing Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner of abusing her power in her investigation of a white couple who wielded guns while defending their home during a protest. The couple accused protesters of knocking down an iron gate marked with No Trespassing and Private Street signs. He said the McCloskeys had every right to protect their property.Gardner, St. Louis' first Black circuit attorney, has been at odds with some in the St. Louis establishment since her election in 2016. The McCloskeys' attorney, Albert Watkins, said they are longtime civil rights advocates and support the message of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Top prosecutors from across the country are expected to gather in St. Louis Tuesday to expose what they say are coordinated and racist efforts to block criminal justice reform. Gardner is the first African-American circuit attorney in St. Louis, elected two years after the protests and unrest in Ferguson. "This is not about a single case or issue facing the city of St. Louis prosecutor. In a statement, the City of St. Louis denied Gardner's allegations against it and said it "fully expects to be vindicated... Gardner said she went to an outside investigator because she didn't trust St. Louis city police to help in the investigation.