Could Eric Greitens’ Growing Scandals Help Democrats Win Senate?

Eric Greitens Image by Getty

By Haley Cohen April 23, 2018

The Missouri Republican Party is in turmoil, again, after Gov. Eric Greitens was slapped with a second felony charge — opening the door for Democrats to hold a key Senate seat.

Greitens was charged with illegally obtaining a fundraising list from a veterans charity he founded. He was indicted in February for allegedly taking a nonconsensual nude photograph of a woman he was having an affair with. The woman has also accused him of sexually assaulting her.

Greitens’ refusal to step down, even as fellow Republicans call on him to resign, could benefit the reelection campaign of Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, Politico reported.

McCaskill won a tough victory in 2012. She is one of 10 Democratic senators seeking reelection in states President Trump carried in 2016 and is a top targets for Republicans in what is shaping up to be a banner year for Democrats.

Democrats need to hold all their seats and win two GOP-held seats to take the Senate.

“[Greitens] is jeopardizing the whole Republican Party of Missouri,” the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Rob Jesmer, told Politico.

Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, is accused of illegally taking a list of top donors to his military veterans charity, The Mission Continues, transferring the names to his political campaign and using them to raise nearly $2 million for his campaign to win governor, NPR reported.

Contact Haley Cohen at hcohen@forward.com

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