Former Senator Danforth backs independent candidate in Missouri senate race

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Jared Young won an endorsement Thursday from a Republican stalwart and former mentor of current Sen. Josh Hawley.

Republican John Danforth, who served three terms in the U.S. Senate representing Missouri from 1976-1995, announced his endorsement of Young, a Webb City resident, in a written release. Young is a conservative and running as an independent candidate under the Better Party for the Senate seat representing Missouri.

“I am honored by Senator Danforth’s endorsement,” Young said. “We share the belief there are real solutions to complex problems if we can reject the angry, divisive tactics that have overtaken American politics.”

Danforth, 87, also served two terms as Missouri attorney general and as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. He is a partner with the Dowd Bennett law firm and currently serves on the national advisory board of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University.

An ordained Episcopal priest, Danforth is the author of Resurrection (1994), Faith and Politics: How the “Moral Values” Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together (2006), and The Relevance of Religion (2015).

Danforth, in his written endorsement, said Young “embraces the ideas that have always defined the Republican Party and have been universally accepted across its membership.”

Danforth said those ideas include:

• Allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, including acceptance of the vote of the people, obedience to the decisions of the courts and support for the peaceful transfer of power. “We believe that the events of January 6, 2021, the date of the mob assault on the Capitol, constituted a direct attack on the Constitution and created one of the darkest days in American history,” he said.

• Support for Abraham Lincoln’s founding principle that the GOP is the party of the Union, of holding America together as one indivisible nation. “We reject the politics of grievance and rage that divides Americans as us against them,” he said.

• Emphasis on fiscal responsibility. “We oppose the explosion of our national debt that weakens America and imposes a burden on future generations,” Danforth said.

• Belief in free enterprise and the private sector as the greatest source of prosperity, not big government interventions, rejecting high protective tariffs and price controls.

• Advocacy of peace through strength and belief that a peaceful world depends on a strong America with a national defense that is second to none.

“We are committed to supporting NATO, and we condemn Vladimir Putin’s ambitions in Europe,” Danforth said. “We are steadfast in opposing Russian aggression. As a lifelong conservative now running on the Better Party ticket, Jared Young stands for the Constitution, Unity, Fiscal Responsibility, Free Markets and Peace through Strength. Josh Hawley rejects all of these.”

 Danforth’s strong support for Josh Hawley — he called Hawley “exceptional” and “a winner” — helped the then-Missouri attorney general win the Republican U.S. Senate primary and the general election in 2018. Three years later, after the Jan. 6 attack, Danforth said backing Hawley was the “worst mistake” of his life.

Hawley also faces Democratic nominee Lucas Kunce, Libertarian W.C. Young and Socialist Equality Party candidate Doris Canady on Nov. 5.