Hawley Sails to Primary Win, Sparring with McCaskill over Debate Details

KSMU | By Jennifer Moore

Published August 8, 2018 at 12:56 AM CDT

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley addresses supporters at a watch party at the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield Tuesday night.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has won the Republican primary for the US Senate seat currently held by Claire McCaskill, a Democrat.

Hawley won about 58 percent of the Republican vote—that’s according to the Secretary of State’s office, which tallies official election results.

He ran against 10 other Republican candidates.

At a watch party with supporters in Springfield, Hawley painted himself as a Washington outsider who only answers to the people of Missouri.

“Both parties have let big business get the better of the taxpayer. Both parties have gotten too caught up in partisan games. And that’s why voters put both parties on notice in the last election. You know, the politicians in Washington may not have gotten that message, but I sure did.”

But Hawley has deep support within the GOP on both the state and federal levels. He has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, and received a congratulatory tweet from the president after winning Tuesday’s primary.

In November, Hawley will face McCaskill, who won about 82 percent of the Democratic primary vote Tuesday.

At the watch party in Springfield, Hawley challenged McCaskill to a series of debates—and he suggested that those debates should be held “in the back of a flat-bed truck.”

“Here’s what we’re gonna do: I’m gonna drag that flatbed truck all over this state to courthouses everywhere. We’ll get out. We’ll get on the back of the truck, and we’ll debate: just me, just her. No holds barred,” he said.

Also Tuesday evening, in a statement, McCaskill challenged Hawley to four town-hall style debates around the state.