Missouri’s Eric Schmitt is not running for president. Staff error led to brief speculation
No, Eric Schmitt isn’t running for president.
A clerical error on the Missouri Republican Senate nominee’s October campaign filings caused brief speculation that Schmitt, the state attorney general, was eyeing a bid for president.
On routine campaign documents filed with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday, Schmitt’s Senate campaign put “President” on the spot under “Office Sought.”
Kansas City-based KCTV, which reported the filings Wednesday, questioned whether they were an indication that Schmitt was interested in running for the White House.
Schmitt’s campaign told The Star on Thursday that the filings were an error by staff and were corrected. However, at least two filings on the FEC website still listed “President” Thursday afternoon.
Despite the error, the name of Schmitt’s campaign committee remains Schmitt for Senate and it is specifically set up as a committee for the Senate race. His name will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot in the race against Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine.
Schmitt is heavily favored to win the election to replace retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt. Election forecasting site FiveThirtyEight gives the Republican nominee a better than 99 % chance of winning the election.
