Missouri Senate race catches Vice President Pence's attention

WASHINGTON — The Missouri Senate race is getting attention from powerful players in Washington — including Vice President Pence.

Pence and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., discussed the race over the weekend, while they were horseback riding together in Washington.

“We talked about a lot of things, including the Missouri Senate race,” Blunt told the Springfield News-Leader.

Blunt said he has not talked to state Attorney General Josh Hawley — who is under pressure from other leading Missouri Republicans to run for the Senate seat — about the race. And he declined to say whether he preferred Hawley or some of the other possible GOP contenders lining up to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

“It’s still developing,” Blunt said of the contest.

But another Republican close to Hawley said Pence called the state attorney general and encouraged him to run. A spokesman for Hawley confirmed that phone call after the News-Leader reported it and said Hawley is "giving the race serious consideration."

"Josh spoke to Vice President Pence this weekend and has been getting a great deal of encouragement to run. He is giving the race serious consideration," said the spokesman, Scott Paradise. "Josh has also received calls from others interested in running and he is letting them know of his decision to consider the race." 

Hawley just won his first political office in 2016. But the pressure for him to challenge McCaskill has been growing since Republicans lost their top recruit earlier this month. Rep. Ann Wagner had been planning to run but recently announced she would seek re-election to her House seat instead.

McCaskill said she expects Republicans to find a "strong opponent," whether it's Hawley or another contender, and she will be "the underdog" in the race no matter what. She has already been labeled as one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats facing re-election in 2018. 

Asked about the prospect of running against Hawley, McCaskill seized on an obvious line of attack: Hawley's ad in the 2016 race, in which he railed against career politicians who use "one office to get another."

"It seems weird to me that you’d do a whole commercial trying to convince people you’re not a politician and not going to immediately run for another office, and then 10 minutes later, you’re running for another office," McCaskill said. "I think that’s the definition of a stone-cold politician."

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Contributing: William Schmitt