Eric Schmitt, U.S. Senator

Eric Stephen Schmitt (born June 20, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Schmitt served as a Missouri state senator from 2009 to 2017, as Missouri state treasurer from 2017 to 2019, and as the Missouri attorney general from 2019 to 2023.

From 2009 to 2017, Schmitt was a member of the Missouri Senate, representing the 15th district. He also served as an alderman for Glendale, Missouri from 2005 to 2008, where he was one of two aldermen for Ward 3. Schmitt was elected Missouri's 46th state treasurer in 2016. On November 13, 2018, Governor Mike Parson named Schmitt attorney general of Missouri after the incumbent, Josh Hawley, was elected to the United States Senate. On November 3, 2020, Schmitt was elected to serve a full four-year term as Missouri's attorney general.

As attorney general of Missouri, Schmitt filed lawsuits to have the Affordable Care Act invalidated by courts, sued school districts and municipalities for implementing mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, sued the Biden administration for its environmental policies, and signed onto an amicus brief that argued that LGBT people are not protected by workplace discrimination bans. He filed a lawsuit against China's handling of the pandemic, making Missouri the first U.S. state to do so. After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede, Schmitt joined other Republicans in claiming fraud and supported lawsuits to invalidate the 2020 election results. In March 2021, he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate. In 2022, Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine.

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Sources

• "Eric Schmitt." Wikipedia, revision of 29 June 2023. < link > Accessed 15 July 2023.