The 2018 United States Senate election in Missouri took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to represent the State of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate,

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and various

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

, including Missouri's quadrennial State Auditor election. Incumbent Democratic Senator

Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She g ...

ran for re-election to a third term. McCaskill easily won her party's nomination, defeating several minor candidates in the primary, while Missouri Attorney General

Josh Hawley Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Mi ...

comfortably won the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

primary. The candidate filing deadline was March 27, 2018, and the primary election was held on August 7, 2018. Pollsters predicted a tight race, however Hawley defeated McCaskill on election day by 5.8%, taking 51.4% of the vote to McCaskill's 45.6%, a somewhat larger margin than expected. This resulted in Republicans holding both Senate seats in Missouri for the first time since McCaskill took office in 2007. Hawley was also the youngest incumbent senator at that time and continued to be until the election of

Jon Ossoff Thomas Jonathan Ossoff ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Ossoff was previously a documentary filmmaker and investigativ ...

in 2021.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Eliminated in primary

* Angelica Earl, former insurance verification specialist * David Faust * Travis Gonzalez,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

* John Hogan, perennial candidate * Leonard Steinman, perennial candidate * Carla (Coffee) Wright

Endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

, Missouri Attorney General

Eliminated in primary

Austin Petersen Austin Wade Petersen (born February 19, 1981) is an American writer, political activist, commentator, and broadcaster. He is currently the host of the Austin Petersen show on Real Talk Radio Network in the St Louis region. He's also the hos ...

, businessman and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

candidate for presidential nomination in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

*Brian Hagg * Bradley Krembs * Tony Monetti, retired bomber pilot and assistant dean of aviation at

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

* Kristi Nichols, activist and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

* Ken Patterson, candidate for St. Louis County Executive in 2010 * Peter Pfeifer * Fred Ryman,

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

nominee for the U.S. Senate in

* Christina Smith * Courtland Sykes, veteran and former congressional aide

Withdrew

* Camille Lombardi-Olive, Democratic candidate for MO-07 in

Declined

Ann Wagner Ann Louise Wagner (née Trousdale, September 13, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, she was the United States ambassador t ...

, U.S. Representative and former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg * Aaron Hedlund, economics professor * Paul Curtman, state representative *

Eric Greitens Eric Robert Greitens (; born April 10, 1974) is a former American politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety. Born a ...

, former

Governor of Missouri A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

Vicky Hartzler Vicky Jo Hartzler (née Zellmer; born October 13, 1960) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, she ...

, U.S. Representative *

Todd Richardson Todd Richardson (born December 26, 1976) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Richardson represented the 152nd district in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. He is from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Richard ...

, Speaker of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

Eric Schmitt Eric Stephen Schmitt (born June 20, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Schmitt served as a Missouri state senator from 2009 to 2017, ...

, state treasurer * David Wasinger, attorney * Marsha Haefner, state representative * Ed Martin, former chairman of the

Missouri Republican Party The Missouri Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Missouri. Its chair is Nick Myers, who has served since 2021. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling the majority of Missouri's U.S. H ...

, nominee for

MO-03 Missouri's third congressional district is in the eastern and central portion of the state. It surrounds but does not include St Louis City. Its current representative is Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer. The district took its current form in 201 ...

and nominee for attorney general in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Endorsements

Debates

Polling

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominated

* Japheth Campbell, entrepreneur

Withdrew

* Don Donald * Dennis Lagares

Declined

* Alicia Dearn, attorney and candidate for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

, Libertarian candidate for President of the United States in 2016 (running as a Republican)

Results

Green primary

Candidates

Nominated

* Jo Crain

Eliminated in primary

* Jerome Bauer

Results

Independents

Candidates

Declared

*Craig O'Dear, attorney

General election

Predictions

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 18, 2018

Fundraising

Polling

;with Austin Petersen ;with generic Republican ;with Vicky Hartzler ;with Blaine Luetkemeyer ;with Todd Richardson ;with Eric Schmitt ;with Jason Smith

Results

Sen. McCaskill conceded a few hours after the polls closed on Election day. Despite performing strongly in the St. Louis suburbs, she ran well behind her 2012 vote in Southeast Missouri, especially in the Lead Belt and the

Missouri Bootheel The Missouri Bootheel is a salient located in the southeasternmost part of the U.S. state of Missouri, extending south of 36°30′ north latitude, so called because its shape in relation to the rest of the state resembles the heel of a boot. ...

. She also ran poorly in the northern part of the state. Despite McCaskill's loss, Missouri Democrats held the other statewide office that went up for election in this cycle, the office of Missouri State Auditor. Democratic incumbent state auditor

Nicole Galloway Nicole Marie Galloway (née Rogge; born June 13, 1982) is an American accountant and politician who served as the State Auditor of Missouri between 2015 and 2023. She was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Missouri in the 2020 election, lo ...

, who had been appointed to the post in 2015 by then-Gov.

Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th Governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the governorship in 2008 and reel ...

following a vacancy, won a full term in the 2018 State Auditor election.

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at FEC
Campaign finance
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

;Official campaign websites
Japheth Campbell (L) for SenateJo Crain (G) for SenateJosh Hawley (R) for SenateClaire McCaskill (D) for Senate

Craig O'Dear (I) for Senate
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Senate Election In Missouri, 2018

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2018 Missouri elections