Mark McCloskey gets 3% of GOP vote in Senate primary race

Apparently waving a gun at Black people isn’t enough to win a Missouri Senate race.

Former personal injury lawyer Mark McCloskey was trounced in Tuesday’s GOP primary where, with 95% of the ballots counted, he had 3% of the vote. Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt ran away with the bizarre race that included a rifle-waving, disgraced former governor and was made more complicated when former President Donald Trump endorsed “Eric” in a race that included three people with that name. Schmitt got roughly 46% of the vote.

McCloskey and his wife became right-wing superstars after being filmed standing in front of their St. Louis mansion bearing firearms as a group of Black Lives Matter protesters passed by in June 2020. That earned the pair a virtual speaking engagement at the 2020 Republican National Convention, where they firmly endorsed Trump.

Mark McCloskey and his wife, Patricia McCloskey, walk outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, in Kenosha, Wis. (Paul Sancya/)

When given an opportunity to return the favor before Tuesday’s primary, Trump all but supported everyone but McCloskey.

“ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” the former president announced on social media Monday.

That first name name is shared by Schmitt, GOP candidate Eric McElroy and former Missouri governor Eric Greitens, who finished Tuesday’s Senate primary with roughly 19% of the vote. Both Schmitt and Greitens claimed that endorsement as their own.

Greitens, who resigned his gubernatorial seat amid a sex scandal in 2018, drew condemnation during his Senate campaign after running militaristic ads in which he claimed to be “RINO hunting.” That is a term used by far-right wing Republicans to describe traditional conservatives.

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McCloskey’s foray into politics began in May when he announced his candidacy on the Fox News program “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in May 2021.

“God came knocking on my door last summer disguised as an angry mob, and it really did wake me up,” he said.

During his campaign, McCloskey referred to some of his opponents as “weaseling politicians” and “mere puppets.” His campaign’s homepage featured a photo of McCloskey and his wife holding guns. The photo caption read “Never Back Down!”

A seat in the Missouri Senate was put up for grabs in March 2021 when Republican Roy Blunt, 72, announced his retirement.