Embattled former Gov. Eric Greitens continues to lead among GOP candidates for U.S. Senate, but some have rallied around a new candidate.
John F. Wood, a former attorney for the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol, was encouraged to run as an Independent by former U.S. Sen. John Danforth (R).
Wood describes himself as a Republican running as an Independent.
Wood
| Department of Justice
"It's a challenge to run without the infrastructure of one of the two major parties behind you but I believe it can be done and I think this race creates a unique opportunity where it can be done because the country is, as a whole more divided than it's ever been," Wood told the St. Louis Record. "The polarization and division in this race, in particular, is at an all-time high."
Wood is circumventing the challenge of defeating Greitens, current Attorney General Eric Schmitt, U.S. Representative Vicky Hartzler, U.S. Representative Billy Long, and Attorney Mark McCloskey by gathering 10,000 signatures instead of depending on the looming Aug. 2 primary.
"I'm not running in the primary but I need to get the signatures by August 1 and I'm confident I'll be able to do that," he said.
Wood resigned from his senior attorney position on the U.S. House panel on Friday, June 25.
"When I answered the call from Liz Cheney to work on that committee, even though it probably wasn't in my political interests, it shows what kind of Senator I'll be, which is that I'll put the good of the country first and not worry about how it affects me politically," he said. "That's the way I'm going to live my life and if it means I lose this election or that I lose some future election, then so be it. I'll be able to hold my head high and know that I did what I thought was right."
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, an Emerson College/The Hill Poll found that one-fourth of voters are undecided with Greitens leading with 26% of the vote, followed by Schmitt with 20% of the vote, Hartzler with 16% of the vote, Billy Long with 8% of the vote and McCloskey with 4% of the vote.
"The Republicans look like they're going to nominate a former governor who just a few days ago glorified wanting to hunt down and shoot his political enemies and these are people of his own party no less and, meanwhile, the Democrats also will probably nominate somebody who's extreme and will rubber-stamp the Biden-Schumer-Pelosi agenda, which is out of step with most Missourians believe in," Wood added.
Critics predict that Wood doesn’t have a chance.
"There are other more qualified potential independent candidates who have name identification and credibility in Missouri politics, which is why I'm surprised that the group supporting an independent candidacy has decided to go with a no-name,” said Jeff Smith, executive director of the Missouri Workforce Housing Association, a former Missouri senator and author of the book, Mr. Smith Goes to Prison: What My Year Behind Bars Taught Me About America's Prison Crisis.
“I don't think that an independent, no one has ever heard of and who has not built any following in the state, can win."