Hartzler enters Missouri U.S. Senate race

From THE MISSOURI TIMES – After months of speculation, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler jumped into the U.S. Senate race Thursday — becoming the first congressional official and woman to do so. 

Unlike other candidates, Hartzler didn’t make the campaign official on cable news. Instead, she traveled back to Missouri, telling those gathered at the Frontier Justice shooting range in Lee’s Summit she was running for the open Senate seat.

Hartzler, 60, drew on her faith while criticizing President Joe Biden and “socialist Democrat policies” in her campaign speech. 

“Missouri will be key in the 2022 elections and our ideals are desperately needed,” Hartzler said. “As Missourians, we embody the values that made this country great. We embrace hard work, love our country, stand by our families, help our neighbors, hunt on weekends, go to church on Sundays, and just want the government to leave us alone.” 

Hartzler represents a large and diverse swatch of Missouri in Congress, from the Columbia area sweeping west to just below Kansas City and down to Pittsburg and Lebanon, settling north of Springfield. Her journey to Congress came with the narrow defeat of longtime incumbent Congressman Ike Skelton. She is the second Republican woman elected to Congress in Missouri. 

“I did a lot of praying and thinking about [running for Congress]. I was very concerned about the direction our country was going in and the leadership in Congress and how our representative was casting his vote with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and policies that we did not believe in here in Missouri,” Hartzler told The Missouri Times earlier this year. “I felt like it was time to step back in and make a difference.”