Missouri GOP Sen. Roy Blunt will not seek reelection in 2022

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri will not seek reelection in 2022, the fifth GOP incumbent senator to announce retirement since the beginning of the year. “After 14 General Election victories -- three to county office, seven to the United States House of Representatives, and four statewide elections -- I won’t be a candidate for reelection to the United States Senate next year,” Blunt said in a videotaped statement.

Blunt joined the Senate in 2010 after serving in the House for 14 years, six of which he spent in leadership as the Republican Whip.

Blunt’s decision to leave Congress after more than two decades come on the heels of Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Richard Burr of North Carolina all announcing their retirements.

The 71-year-old lawmaker did not say explicitly why he was leaving after his term is up next year. “There is still a lot to do, and I look forward to every day this year and next year as I continue to work for you in the Senate,“ Blunt said. "Another lesson I learned here: FINISH STRONG, and I intend to.“

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/08/joe-biden-live-updates/#link-4VNPEZCMGJH4VE5EZVBDVVKACM

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I had a feeling...

ETA - having watched the Senate Rules & Administration stuff recently (and they were instrumental in managing that Inauguration), I had noticed a certain rare camaraderie between Klobachar and Blunt and also noted that despite being an "old school" GOP conservative, Blunt seemed to try to keep his distance from the fray including having to deal with his junior colleague and Insurrectionist-in-Chief, Hawley.

[sabbat hunter]

1. What are the chances of

Turning the seat blue?

[qazplm135]

3. Pretty minimal

Missouri is not trending favorably.

[Calista241]

4. The chances of a flip are not nonexistent, but they're not great. n/t

[jonstl08]

11. Jay Nixon

Jay Nixon is the only one Dem candidate I think who can win

[NCjack]

41. If Trump continues to give the QOP a nasty split, I like Jay's chances.

[BradAllison]

5. Missouri is getting worse

[lastlib]

7. Pretty slim, I think.

Missouri has gotten pretty red in rural and suburban areas. State has voted GOP for presidents since 1996. All but two of our Reps are GOPhers, and this is the state that put Todd Akin in Congress. A Joe Manchin MIGHT make a dent in it, but not sure I would want that. We should try, but I think the odds are pretty damn long.

[greenjar_01]

12. Missouri has gone as crazy as Alabama

And they've managed to find a way to outweigh the blue vote in St. Louis. It's a shit show.

[groundloop]

22. Hey... at least we (Alabama) have recently had a Democratic Senator

Thankfully not even Alabama was crazy enough to send a pedophile to the Senate.

[sabbat hunter]

58. Alabama had a D senator

mainly because the GOP candidate was too batshit crazy even for the redder than red Republicans. Then Tubby won because of his name alone.
Now if you got Nick Saban to run as a Democrat, he probably would beat Tubby.

[samplegirl]

15. Probably next to

None!

[Rebl2]

19. Zero

[NewJeffCT]

33. McCaskill lost by 6 in 2018

and Blunt beat Jason Kander by 3 points in 2016. Trump won Missouri by a slightly smaller margin in 2020 vs 2016 (16% vs 18%)

Any Democrat would have an uphill battle in 2022, but the Senate has been somewhat competitive in Missouri the past 2 elections.

[efhmc]

2. What are our chances with any of these "retirements"?

[Lonestarblue]

6. Ohio and Pennsylvania probably offer the best chance.

Maybe North Carolina. Tim Ryan has indicated interest in Portman’s seat, and John Fetterman is running for Toomey’s seat—both strong candidates.

The Democrats running for Burr’s seat in NC seem to be mostly unknowns. The former governor, Republican Pat McCrory, has expressed interest, and his entry into the race could make this seat even more difficult for Democrats to win.

[Iliyah]

8. Qanon candidate . . .

[jonstl08]

9. Jay Nixon

Jay Nixon is the obvious Democratic candidate. Last Democratic Governor the state elected plus he is from a semi-rural area which helps.

[greenjar_01]

13. Democrat Governor?

[xmas74]

43. Nixon was a Dem governor, serving 2 terms.

Before that he was a popular MO AG.

He's very well liked, as is Kander.

[greenjar_01]

46. That would make him a Democratic Governor, for sure

He fumbled the Ferguson thing terribly, but otherwise not bad as a Democratic governor.

[xmas74]

50. Ferguson was a pot boiled over

He could have done more but that was going to be messy no matter what.

[greenjar_01]

52. Absolutely

He did not acquit himself well, however.

[xmas74]

54. No,he didn't

The supermajority GOP in Jeff City didn't help.

[DENVERPOPS]

10. Wow,

Politician since 1985............ talk about a career of living off of the government teat.....
I'm sure there are lots of them, including democrats.......

[Freethinker65]

14. McCaskil? She might have some valuable insight.

[NewJeffCT]

30. She has just announced that she is NOT running

in 2022

Link to tweet

?s=20

[oasis]

57. Claire's got 💵💰💵💰💵 and a steady gig with MSNBC. She'd be nuts

to throw herself back into the political buzz saw of campaigning.

[Freethinker65]

61. That is why I said insight, not to run herself.

She knows what it takes (took) to win as a Democrat from Missouri.

[ancianita]

16. So far we've got five chances and a good administrative record to run hard on. Let's.

[Traildogbob]

17. Blunt

He is a constant ass pimple on McConnell’s back side. Every time the Turtle speaks, Blunts mug is right beside him. The sad part, as useless as he has been, he may be better than the next Qanon at bat. Isn’t Missouri where Hawley is from? They have a deep pole of assholes to fill Blunts seat.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. He has transformed himself into

the consummate coiffed "politician", always right there with his party. But he hasn't been on every media outlet like Graham or Rubio or the usual nuts, promoting overturning the election although he did enough double-speak to keep from getting death threats, after he basically put out a statement that they needed to move on. IMHO, I think the sees the writing on the wall with the direction of the party. He didn't vote with the loons to overturn the election (in terms of not agreeing with the objections to AZ and PA electoral certifications).

[Traildogbob]

25. Thank you

I agree, he never used the media to spout like Graham, Cruz, Gaetz and others. I think you are correct in what his thought process is, get while the gettin is good.
But his vacancy could be a door for a lunatic GQP to join the crowd.

[BumRushDaShow]

31. Yeah that's my concern as well

ALTHOUGH you have two "big" blue cities in MO (St. Louis, Kansas City) where if the "GA model" of literal door-to-door canvassing, texting, emailing, calling, post cards and whatnot, could happen, they might be able to make a difference.

[jonstl08]

40. The I-70 Corridor

The I-70 corridor linking St. Louis - Kansas City with Columbia in the middle are the only reliable Blue areas in the state. For any Dem candidate to win they have have huge number in those metro areas and peel off a few % of GOP votes in the rural areas.

One person already running on the Dem Side is Scott Sifton but he is from Kansas City so he might have a hard time in the rural areas. Rural voters here in Missouri are pretty much fully indoctrinated in the GOP koolaid and do not trust City politicians. At least that is my take on things.

[xmas74]

44. He's from the STL side.

He lives in Affton.

[jonstl08]

45. My mistake

He grew up in Kansas City. Lives in St Louis now.

[xmas74]

49. You're good.

I met him in STL.

[GB_RN]

34. I Prefer

To call them Qballs (my invention) or Qcumbers (got that from someone else). 😁

[keroro gunsou]

37. or just call them

Qberts

[GB_RN]

39. That's An Insult

To a fun video game from way back when...
Lol

[UpInArms]

18. Hoping Jason Kandor decides to run

Am happy that Blunt is going ...

[GB_RN]

35. According To MSNBC

Kandor has already said he won't be running for it.

[UpInArms]

36. That's a shame

He is such a good human being ... smart, articulate and dedicated.

[Rebl2]

20. Republicans

in MO the last several weeks have been saying they were going to run against him. I think they had a heads up he wasn’t going to run again, and that’s why they have been announcing a run. One who is considering, is disgraced Eric Greitens who finally had to resign as governor because of a sex scandal.

[mezame]

23. Five (so far) and Counting...

...so those R's who see the writing on the wall (gibberish, mind you) are washing their hands and passing the buck. Pontius Pilate comes to mind (and I find it most amusing that spell check wanted to change that to 'Panties').

Regardless of our chances to flip a seat blue, it behooves us to get a D on the ballot anyway. When those voters are faced in 2022 with either demonstrably crazy vs. competency (or at least empathy), consequences will be very interesting indeed. I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut (god I so want to type donut), that Jamie Harrison just put another pin on his board.

[George II]

24. Grassley's due for re-election next year. He has really lost it, has he announced retirement too?

[George II]

26. Unbelievably he filed for re-election last Wednesday. He's 87 years old, will by 88 next election.

[BumRushDaShow]

27. He is truly one who needs to go

But I expect he'll stay in there until he keels over. He is only the 2nd most senior in there behind Leahy.

[George II]

28. Yes, he'll be 88 next year. If you watched any of the recent hearings, he can barely read and speak.

[BumRushDaShow]

32. Oh I know

Robert Byrd stayed in there until he was 93 and passed away while in office. There are some that just have the genes and the will and the way.

Grassley likes his "lord over them all" role IMHO.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

29. Hope they don't elect another Josh Hawley

[sandensea]

38. The leader of the 'Armageddon Lobby' back in the Bush years

Blunt and his cretins supported Dubya's wars because to them (as to Dubya himself), it was the best way to "hasten Christ's second coming."

If anyone was lucky Christ didn't in fact return, it's them.

[Gamecock Lefty]

42. I live in St Louis County . . .

Sad to say but no way we turn that seat blue. We got rid of McCaskill for the likes of that piece of crap, Hawley. No way we turn blue.

I even read that creep Greitens is considering a run. Oh geez!

Damn!

[xmas74]

47. There is one scenario

Greitens loses in the primary to a Wagner/Hartzler/Kehoe. He decides to run in the GE as a third party. Remember, he's still angry w the GOP and blames several members for "forcing" his resignation. If this happens he'll push as a Trumpikan and could split the vote.

The other half is that the Ds must pick a strong candidate. The strongest atm hasn't declared but I think.they could get him if they tried: Gov Jay Nixon. Even Republicans liked him sometimes . If the race splits he could pick up just enough to squeak it out.

[jonstl08]

51. Earlier post I mentioned Nixon

Said this earlier in a post

[jonstl08]

48. Grietens UGH

Live in the County also. Greitens is just horrible but he would probably win if the nominee. Sad state of affairs for this state.

[BumRushDaShow]

53. St. Louis and Kansas City and some of the other cities

need some "Georgia style" treatment of door to door canvassing and all the other stuff that was done to get people out to vote in the state of Georgia. MO has a similar demographic profile as here in PA and it can be done if people would stop sitting out elections. Oddly enough, MO was very close to actually flipping to Obama back in 2008 but fell short by less than 4000 votes, within the recount threshold (but he decided not to ask for one).

Although it took a little time, we watched the disengaged people of Ferguson wake up and take some control of their own local affairs after the disgrace of the Michael Brown death.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

55. McCaskill responds to Blunt retiring: 'I will never run for office again'

Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) ruled out the possibility of running to replace Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Monday after he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022.

In a tweet shortly after Blunt's announcement, McCaskill said that she would not seek public office again. Following her 2018 defeat by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), McCaskill took a job as a political analyst with MSNBC and NBC News.

"To all that are asking: thank you to the many who have said kind things. But I will never run for office again. Nope. Not gonna happen. Never. I am so happy I feel guilty sometimes," she tweeted.

Link to tweet

McCaskill's announcement came minutes after a similar remark made by Jason Kander, who previously served as a Democratic member of the Missouri state House as well as the state's secretary of state.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mccaskill-responds-to-blunt-retiring-i-will-never-run-for-office-again/ar-BB1enlyv?li=BBnb7Kz

[BumRushDaShow]

56. I think she has enjoyed the role of tossing grenades from the sidelines

She has apparently become a "trusted source" for all things "Senate".

[Deminpenn]

59. I would be looking for Dems to run an economic

populist, not the usual suspect of centrist/moderate/ex-military. Go big and bold. There is really nothing to lose.

[brooklynite]

60. Current Democratic candidates...

Jewel Kelly (D) - Real Estate Agent & USAF Veteran
Timothy Gaull Shepard (D) - Business Creative Strategist
Scott Sifton (D) - Ex-State Sen., Ex-State Rep., Ex-School Board Member & Attorney