Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a parade of Republican lawmakers are hoping to boost Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s chances of unseating U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill by hosting five Washington, D.C., fundraisers for his campaign next week.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., will kick off the festivities with a lunch gathering on Tuesday. Later that evening, McConnell and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., will co-host a dinner for the benefit of Hawley’s campaign.

The next day begins with a breakfast fundraiser hosted by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

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For lunch, 10 Republican senators — including Blunt and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts — will come together to help Hawley raise money.

Finally, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., will host a fund-raising reception at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

It’s unclear if Hawley will be in Washington, D.C., next week to attend these fund raisers. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

But an email from the campaign’s fundraisers seemed to suggest the attorney general would be making the trip. The email, which included invitations to the D.C. events, was sent out Wednesday with the subject line “Join Josh Hawley in DC: NEXT WEEK!”

McCaskill is a top target for Republicans seeking to expand the party’s slim 51-49 edge in the Senate. She is among 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election this year in states that Trump won.





Trump won Missouri by 18 percentage points in 2016, and he’ll be in Springfield on Friday to campaign for Hawley.

In a fund-raising email sent Thursday, Hawley’s campaign hoped to capitalize on the president’s visit.

“The moment President Trump lands in our state, the first thing he will ask Josh is ‘how is fund raising going?’” the email said. “The last thing Josh wants to do is let him down.”



