Eric Schmidt beats former Gov. Eric Greitens in Missouri’s GOP Senate primary, NBC projects

Eric Greitens, the disgraced former Missouri governor who launched a comeback effort against his wishes many republicanswill lose the state GOP Senate primary, NBC News projects.

Eric Schmidt, currently the state’s attorney general, is expected to advance to the general election, where he will compete against a Democratic candidate for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt.

The primary results mark a landslide defeat for Greitens, who fully embraced former President Donald Trump and fought against the recent allegations of domestic abuse as he looked to claw his way back into the political limelight.

Greitens had announced his bid for the Senate nearly three years after resigning from the governor’s office amid allegations that he blackmailed a hairdresser with whom he had an affair. Greitens admitted the effort, but denied had threatened to release nude photos he took of her if she disclosed the affair.

He was charged with felony invasion of privacy related to the alleged extortion. Greitens was also charged with illegally using a list of charity donors to help fund his gubernatorial campaign in 2016. Both charges were he fell around the time Greitens resigned in June 2018.

That’s it other scandals led mainstream Republicans to I am worried about a Greitens nomination that jeopardizes the party’s hold on a Senate seat in a state that otherwise reliably votes Republican for high office. Democrats are desperate to retain their slim majority in the Senate, but their control of the chamber is threatened by a challenging political environment, exacerbated by President Joe Biden’s unpopularity and recent economic turmoil.

Greitens had been fully aligned with Trump during his Senate campaign, including Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud plaguing the 2020 presidential election. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, joined the campaign of Greitens as national co-chair.

However, the former president ultimately did not give Greitens a full endorsement. Instead, he curiously endorsed “Eric” in the Missouri Senate GOP primary, where two of the top candidates are named Eric.

“I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this, to make up their own minds,” Trump said in a social media post on the eve of the primary.

Both Greitens and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt protested Trump’s announcement as if it were a personal endorsement.

Poll averages from RealClearPolitics showed that Greitens had a narrower lead over a leading Democratic primary than either of his two biggest rivals in the Republican primary.

After Sheena Greitens filed court documents in March alleging that Eric Greitens abused her and their young son while they were married, many top Republicans called on Greitens to drop out.

“If you hit a woman or a child, you belong in handcuffs, not in the United States Senate,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who investigated Greitens when he was Missouri attorney general.

Blunt himself said Greitens “shouldn’t be running for Senate” if Sheena Greitens’ allegations are true.