EMILYs List Statement on Missouri Republican Senate Nominee Josh Hawley

For Immediate Release
August 7, 2018

EMILYs List Statement on Missouri Republican Senate Nominee Josh Hawley

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tonight, Missouri Republicans selected Josh Hawley as their nominee for United States Senate. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“Showing no attempt to hide his contempt or his terrible record, Josh Hawley has used this campaign to forecast how bad he would be for Missouri's women and families. Not only is he anti-choice, but he harbors fringe ideas about women and marriage equality that suggest he would take every opportunity possible to move our country backward. We look forward to helping Claire McCaskill defeat him in November.”

Here are a few things that we've learned about Josh Hawley this year:

• He claims that human trafficking is directly linked to the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s. The “revolution” he is referring to is the one in which women were given the right to make decisions over their own health and economic futures. 
• He believes that the “false gospel of 'anything goes' ends in this road of slavery” – presumably referring to women's bodily autonomy. 
• He rationalizes his homophobia by blaming “cultural elites, Hollywood, and the media” for “denigrating the biblical truth about husband and wife, man and woman.” 
• He believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned. 
• He joined other Republican officials in bringing a lawsuit that will put health care for 2.5 million Missourians who have a pre-existing condition at risk. 

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.