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#MOSen Daily Round-up: July 29

Jefferson City, Mo. — With the Senate primary elections soon drawing to a close, the Missouri Times will put out daily updates on how each candidate is spending their final week on the campaign trail.

Republican Candidates

Eric Schmitt: Schmitt had a fairly straightforward day Friday, continuing his final push for election called the “Save America Tour.” The GOP frontrunner spent his morning in Garden City, Mo. before holding a meet and greet in Joplin, Mo.

Schmitt ended his Friday in Springfield, the Attorney General has spent a fair amount of time in Missouri’s third largest metropolitan area. Schmitt spent last weekend in the Queen City of the Ozarks with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Schmitt’s most powerful GOP endorsers.

Schmitt’s tour will go until Aug 1, the day before votes are cast, and will take him as far west as St. Joseph, Mo. and as far east as St. Louis. A strong tour should see Schmitt hold his lead in the race.

With the most cash on hand, he’s expected to flood the airwaves as the races draws to a close.

Vicky Hartzler: Hartzler only made one stop on her own tour, called “The Heartland Tour.” The Congresswoman will be focusing on Southeast Missouri over the weekend.

Hartzler will make her only stop of the day in Poplar Bluff, Mo. at the Farm Bureau building. The Missouri Farm Bureau has been one of Hartzler’s most reliable supporters in the Missouri political landscape.

Hartzler is heading to the bootheel at the same time as former Gov. Eric Greitens is holding a series of rallies there. As has been the theme with her final week, she appears to be pushing to grab votes from other candidates.

Hartzler spent time in Southwest Missouri earlier in the week, likely in an attempt to sway supporters of Congressman Billy Long to vote for her as she tries to close the gap between her and Schmitt.

If she can get her current supporters to the polls and steal some votes from Greitens and Long, Hartzler looks to be well within striking distance of the GOP nomination.

Eric Greitens: Greitens continued his tour of the bootheel Friday. The former Navy Seal stopped in Hayti and Kennet, Mo.

Greitens has support in the bootheel, and it appears he’s trying to rile up that base to go to the polls for him on Aug. 2.

The embattled former Governor’s scandals continue to threaten to sink him. Big ad spending on advertisements attacking him and additonal details about his alleged child and spousal abuse have caused the former front-runner to take a hit in the polls.

Greitens shared a poll of his own on his Twitter feed claiming that he was leading. However, the survery was conducted by his own campaign, not a pollster, so the results remain dubious.

Greitens previously retweeted a tweet bashing a recent Remington poll, claiming the results were “fake” because of Remington’s association with Eric Schmitt. Greitens hasn’t mentioned that the poll he’s pushing out all over Twitter was conducted by his own team.

https://twitter.com/alexbruesewitz/status/1551728369091416065

Greitens promised “more events to be announced soon,” in a Twitter post on July 26.

Mark McCloskey: Friday was a busy day for McCloskey and his team.

The campaign team has continued their strategy of spreading out around the state in an effort to reach a wider voter base. McCloskey appeared on the radio Friday morning with Mike Ferguson.

The attorney then spent his time at the St. Charles County fair, while his team campaigned on his behalf at events in Greene and Gasconade county.

McCloskey said he is “trying to meet as many human beings as possible,” in his last week before the primary. He added that he’s doubled his radio ad spending as the race draws to a close.

Democrat Candidates

Trudy Busch Valentine: Friday was a quiet day for Busch Valentine, she had no in-person events, according to her website.

Busch did make a headline as she spoke to ABC 17 KMIZ in Columbia, responding to some of the attacks her Democrat opponent Lucas Kunce has thrown her way.

Busch has spent heavily on both radio and television ads lately, she is outspending Kunce at nearly a 5-1 clip. Since starting in the St. Louis and Kansas City markets, she has branched out to Columbia, Mo. and Springfield, Mo.

Lucas Kunce: Kunce didn’t hold any events Friday. The Marine vet and former Pentagon staffer is narrowly behind Busch Valentine, according to Tuesday’s Emerson poll.

Kunce made a headline today as well, going “one-on-one” in an interview with KCTV in Kansas City.

Kunce will have an important weekend ahead of him. He is planning to hold rallies in Springfield, Mo. and St. Louis on Saturday and Sunday respectively. He will end his campaign Aug. 1 with a rally in his native Kansas City.

How his last run of rallies go could indicate his chances of beating his opponent despite having far less capital. Kunce is being heavily outspent, though he is on the air in the St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, and Springfield markets but has put a focus on digital content.

Editorial Note: As the Aug. 2nd primary approaches, The Missouri Times will cover where each candidate spent their final days on the campaign trail

Featured Image: From left, Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler pose at “pro-life meet and greet” during Hartzler’s “Heartland Tour” on July 28. Hartzler spent extensive time this week trying to hammer down her pro-life voter base.